Abstract

This book investigates Italian foreign cultural policy from the 1947 Constitution to the present. The analysis reveals two interesting and parallel features: on the one hand the requirement to promote ‘high culture’ and on the other the need to deal with complex issues relating to emigration. How has this dilemma inherent in Italian foreign cultural policy been dealt with? To what extent has the Italian State confronted these two apparently opposite challenges? The Australian context is used here as an example to show how the dichotomy of migrants versus culture-promotion abroad has gradually been addressed, with a view to a reconciliation which now seems imminent.

Mariella Totaro-Genevois was born in Italy to an Italian mother and French father. She moved to Australia with her young family in the mid-1960s and now lives in Sydney. She has a Law degree from the University of Turin, an MA Honours in Italian Studies (University of Sydney) and a PhD in European Studies (Monash University). She taught in the Department of Italian at Sydney University for 18 years and then in Romance Languages at Monash (1992–1997), and has worked intensively in the development of curricula and examinations in Italian studies. Mariella has co-authored several successful books for teaching Italian at tertiary and secondary levels.