Abstract
Young people of foreign origin feel themselves to be Italian: it is the gaze
of others that makes them feel “strangers in their own homes”. A racist
joke, an indiscreet question or even the indifferent glance of a stranger
may be enough; their physical characteristics or a minority religious
symbol will call up a difference which, in reality, does not exist.
How much does their ethnic origin count among adolescents? What is fabricated, invented,
freely discussed? One thing unites the life stories of many young people of non-Italian
origin: their belonging to Italian society, even if they feels themselves to be fully integrated,
is often the subject of renegotiation. Adolescence is often the time in which they must try
out strategies to reaffirm their identity: the outcome of this process determines their future
societal location. In this time of globalisation, it is a fact that young people are growing
up in a much more multicultural setting that that of their parents and grandparents and
hence contact with people from different cultural backgrounds is an everyday experience
for them: what influences the formation of the identity - especially the cultural identity - of
young people today?
New Italians recount their need to negotiate various internal and external “colours” -
i.e., to construct complex identities which cannot easily be simplified, and which vary in
relation to their bilingualism, social standing and the migratory history of their parents.
However, Anna Granata emphasizes that growing up among in such a multicultural context
is more of a benefit than a problem: the work of deconstructing/constructing, adapting and
interpreting results in a continuous reduction of diversities and dissonances and an ability
to bring their own differences into play, which supersedes the mechanics of assimilation
and rejection with original and very varied solutions, the outcome of a long process of
approximation. An educational system marked by interculturalism must start from the
recognition that adolescents, regardless of their origins and personal culture, must learn to
“see with the eyes, the heart and the mind of others”, precisely in order to understand that
even if individuals and groups “conceive their lives in different terms, they still share needs
and desires” (Hanvey, 1982). This is a starting point, which promises to lay a solid foundation
for dialogue, satisfactory conflict resolution for all stakeholders, the identification of shared
values, and the concrete possibility of negotiating genuine conviviality.
Translated title of the contribution | [Autom. eng. transl.] Search for identities, intercultural trajectories and second generations. Seeking identity, intercultural trajectories and second generations |
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Original language | Italian |
Title of host publication | Building Bridges - L'Educazione Interculturale all'Epoca dei Nuovi Fondamentalismi. Ricerche, sperimentazioni didattiche, progetti educativi. Intercultural Education in the Age of Resurgent Fundamentalism. Research, learning activities, educational projects |
Pages | 173-174 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Event | Quarta Giornata Interculturale - Milano Bicocca. Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione "Riccardo Massa" Duration: 26 May 2016 → 26 May 2016 |
Conference
Conference | Quarta Giornata Interculturale |
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City | Milano Bicocca. Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione "Riccardo Massa" |
Period | 26/5/16 → 26/5/16 |
Keywords
- adolescence
- adolescenze
- competenze interculturali in azione
- cultural differences
- differenze culturali
- intercultural competencies in action