Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Linguistics

Advisor

Cecelia Cutler

Subject Categories

Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics | Discourse and Text Linguistics | Ethnic Studies | Other Italian Language and Literature

Keywords

Italy, Black-Italian, sociolinguistics, stance, identity, Computer-mediated communication

Abstract

There have been various studies on the intersection of race and national identity for the African diaspora, but there has not been many on how language is used to evoke a stance on identity. This project focuses on the how ethnonyms, or names given to an ethnic group, are assigned to Black Italians in online discourse on YouTube. In this research, comments were analyzed from two YouTube videos that comprise of Black Italians who discuss their identity and the ethnonyms they prefer. ZERO is the first Netflix Italian series that centers the Black Italian experience. In the videos “Black [Italian] 101 with the cast of #ZERO 🇮🇹” and “Partiamo da ZERO : esistono gli italiani di seconda generazione?”, the actors discuss some of the series' major themes. The themes include the inclusion of Black representation in Italian media, their childhood idols, and reactions to labels assign to themselves, such as "second-generation Italian,". Ethnonyms “Black Italian”,” Afro-Italian”, Afro-descendenti", and their Italian translations were tagged and analyzed to better understand the positive and/or negative stance they evoke when used.

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