Trip to the Venetian Ghetto

Blood: A critique of Christianity

Blood: A Critique of Christianity - Gil Anidjar Blood, in Gil Anidjar's argument, maps the singular history of Christianity. A category for historical analysis, blood can be seen through its literal and metaphorical uses as determining, sometimes even defining, Western culture, politics, and social practices and their wide-ranging incarnations in nationalism, capitalism, and law. In Part One. The Vampire State, Anidjar analyzes the role of blood in medieval Christianity and its subsequent influence on the Western civilization- in particular how it founded and shaped the three fundamental concepts of modernity: nation, state and capital. In Part Two. Hematologies, Anidjar explores the space occupied by blood in the literary canon of the Western world, engaging with Greek culture, philosophy and psychoanalysis

What's so special about blood?

Migration and Identity: Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Migration and identity are relevant topics in Moshin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist. The plot evolves around Changez, a Pakistani migrant in America, who struggles between two identities and is torn between the clash of two different worlds. As a matter of fact, after 9/11 and the following invasion of Afghanistan, he starts to resent America and he feels a crippling sense of displacement. His disillusionment will lead him back to his native country.

Personal experience as a migrant in Italy

      As a migrant in Italy, I have had a chance to view many different things. The first and the foremost among them was my sense of alienation. Being an alien, I had to acquaint myself with the new culture which is a European culture; the culture that is much different in almost every respect from the oriental culture. It led me to be a man of inquisitive nature. I kept on enquiring about things whether it was purchasing a train ticket or food articles. I had to see novel things in almost every aspect of the life. If there was a construction in progress in a building, I would keep looking at it and observed things objectively to know how far was it different than the place of my origin. They are just a few of the instances which has had an effect upon my sensibilities in my day to day life in Italy.

Videos demonstrating the impacts of 9/11 on Muslim immigrants

An interview with four immigrants

Italy is one of the most important destination countries for migrants in Europe. Around 500.000 regular migrants live there and the annual growth rate of migrant presence is, together with Spain, the highest in Europe. Italy is currently struggling to deal not only with the legal immigrants but also with the illegal ones. As a matter of fact, many of these undocumented immigrants use the sea route as a way to enter in the country. This problematic situation has increased tension within Italian cities, as well as feelings of animosity towards immigrants.
A week ago we decided to interview some immigrants living in Northern Italy in order to understand how they are treated by Italians, whether or not they feel welcomed, and if they are still victims of racial bias. The interview took place in four different cities - Brescia, Treviso, Mantua and Venice - and has been translated in English

Venice, post-cosmopolitan city?

In the volume Post-Cosmopolitan cities: Explorations of Urban Coexistence, Venice is listed among post-cosmopolitan cities, that is places once famous for being cosmopolitan but which are no longer so in the twenty-first century.