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Cropped image of Teresa Fiore's book cover.

Pre-Occupied Spaces: Prizes, Reviews and Presentations

‌‌ is the title of a 2017 book by Dr. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at vlog), published by Fordham University Press in the Critical Studies in Italian America series. It was awarded the , received an , was voted and was nominated for the 2018 Bridge Book Award.

The book was published in Italian by Le Monnier/Mondadori Educational in 2021. For information about the Italian edition and presentations in Italy, see and in English.

By linking Italy’s long history of emigration to all continents in the world, contemporary transnational migrations directed toward it, as well as the country’s colonial legacies, Fiore’s book poses Italy as a unique laboratory to rethink national belonging at large in our era of massive demographic mobility as well as to re-design the discipline of Italian Studies within a mobility-based and translingual vision. Through an interdisciplinary cultural approach, the book finds traces of globalization in a past that may hold interesting lessons about inclusiveness for the present.

Fiore rethinks Italy’s formation and development on a transnational map including Egypt, Argentina, France, Ethiopia and the U.S. through the cultural analysis of travel, living, and workspaces as depicted in literary, filmic, and musical texts (Crialese’s Golden Door, Lakhous’ Clash of Civilization Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, Cavanna’s Les Ritals, Ghermandi’s “The Story of Woizero Bekelech and Signor Antonio,” and Rodari’s short stories, among others). By demonstrating how immigration in Italy today is preoccupied by its past emigration and colonialism, the book stresses commonalities and dispels preoccupations.   

Pre-Occupied Spaces book cover

Awards, Honorable Mentions and Nominations:

  • (prize was presented by Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri at a ceremony held on June 26 at the Scottish Parliament)
  • Nomination to “The Bridge” Book Award – Fourth Edition in 2018 – promoted and sponsored by Casa delle Letterature of the Rome Municipality, the American Initiative for Italian Culture (AIFIC), and the Embassy of the United States in Rome, and endorsed by the Embassy of Italy in Washington, DC, the American Academy in Rome, and other Institutions in both countries such as Center of Italian Modern Art (CIMA) and the Center For Fiction in NY.
  • (for books published in 2017). and (5’10”).
  • – Winner in the 20th-21st centuries category (assigned in June 2018)

Journal reviews:

  • by Loredana Polezzi in Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture 10:1 (April 2019): 153-5.
  • by Joseph Viscomi (“Spaces and Migrations”) in H-net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Feb. 2019): 1-3.
  • by David Aliano in Journal of Modern Italian Studies 24:1 (Feb. 2019): 198-200.
  • by Caterina Romeo in Italian American Review (Winter 2019): 143-146.
  • by Alessandra Mattei in Oblio: Osservatorio bibliografico della letteratura italiana otto-novecentesca VIII. 32 (Winter 2018): 287-8.
  • Review by Loredana Polezzi in 10:1 (April 2019): 153-5.
  • by Melissa Coburn in Annali di Italianistica 36 (2018): 465-7.
  • by Giovanna Bellesia in gender/sexuality/italy 5 (2018): 281-3.
  • by Cristina Lombardi-Diop in Forum Italicum 51:3 (Fall 2017): 863-66.
  •   by Cristina Lombardi-Diop in Altreitalie 55 (July-Dec. 2017): 147-50 – (Italian translation of the Forum Italicum review)

Magazine reviews and blog entries

  • by Quotidiano di Sicilia (June 1, 2019)
  • by Yulia Lapina (May 12, 2019) on the occasion of the presentation at the (May 9, 2019) two years after the book’s presentation
  • by We the Italians (May 6, 2019)
  • by Loredana Polezzi on the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies blog What are You Reading? (Feb. 14, 2018)
  • in the online magazine La voce di New York (Jan. 17, 2018) by Sara Fruner

Excerpts from Reviews:

“Being truly pre-occupied with space, Fiore organizes the volume according to a carefully constructed structure that takes the question of migratory space extremely seriously…. The book’s innovative and highly creative architecture waves together an impressive proliferation of well-researched texts, critical references, and disciplinary perspectives. What holds the whole structure together is Fiore’s sophisticated and brilliant work of theoretical scaffolding, one that never loses sight of the perils of its iconoclastic undertakings… Pre-occupied Spaces also redraws the cartography of Italian Studies within the Humanities … [and] has the merit of breaking disciplinary and geographical boundaries in unprecedented ways.” Cristina Lombardi-Diop, Loyola University Chicago (from Forum Italicum review)

“Fiore invites her readers to re-read Italy’s history (and its present) of emigration and its present (and its history) of immigration in light of ongoing debates about citizenship and nationality. As the 2018 elections revealed, this is more necessary than ever. I leave wondering about the book’s audience: when will an Italian translation appear?” Joseph Viscomi (H-Net in the Humanities and Social Sciences)

“For its methodological approach as well as its ethical and political impetus, Pre-Occupied Spaces is an important book. In placing mobility at the centre of her canvas, Teresa Fiore makes the stories she tells about Italy crucial for our understanding of the contemporary world, its tensions, its fears and its aspirations. That is why this is a book which deserves to be read well beyond the confines of Italian Studies – and also a book which reaffirms the role Italian Studies can occupy in the broader field of the Humanities. We need stories like these, voiced this clearly and convincingly, if the Humanities
are to maintain their heuristic power and their centrality.” Loredana Polezzi, Cardiff University (Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture)

“Fiore provides a much broader sense of the vast history behind the narratives [she analyzes] by uncovering a vast array of sources and, in turn, sources for those sources. She thus makes her argument carefully, attentive to scholarly precedents. When theorizing, she self-consciously invites the reader to continued inquiry of valid current questions. In brief, Pre-Occupied Spaces successfully unifies this diverse set of cultural texts into a worthy overview of questions of vital contemporary interest.” Melissa Coburn, Virginia Tech (Annali di Italianistica).

“The uniqueness of Pre-Occupied Spaces stems from its structure, from the author’s decision to approach migration from many different angles, across multiple disciplines and genres. […] Pre-Occupied Spaces is a unique and important contribution to what is becoming the crowded field of migration studies.” Giovanna Bellesia, Smith College (from gender/sexuality/italy review)

Public Presentations (from upcoming to past):

  1.  – Nov. 2, 2019   A panel presentation at in Boston in connection to )
  2.  – Oct. 21, 2019  6pm Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
  3. – May 13, 2019 7pm Lecture
  4. – Thur. May 9, 2019 6pm Calandra Italian American Institute, NY.
  5. – April 25-26, 2019 Miami University, OH – the visit includes a public presentation (April 25 4:30pm) as part of the Irvin Lectures Series and an in-class talk about “Contemporary Migration from Italy to the U.S.,” sponsored by the Department of French and Italian/College of Arts and Sciences.
  6. – Feb. 13-16, 2019 Ohio State University – Scholar-in-Residence visit includes public lecture, in-class talks, meetings with graduate students, presentation to the community as part the Migration, Mobility, and Immobility project of the Global Arts & Humanities Discovery Theme (GAHDT): see .
  7. – Thur. Jan. 10, 2019 Università di Palermo, Italy (Edificio 12, Aula Seminari, Polo Universitario viale delle Scienze). with University of Palermo faculty.
  8. “Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies” – Tue Nov. 13, 2018 6pm  Columbia University (Hamilton Hall Room 407)
  9. – Wed. Oct. 24, 2018  2:30pm Fordham University (568 Faber Hall, Rose Hill campus, The Bronx)
  10. – Mon. Oct. 22, 2018  7-9pm University of San Diego (Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, Warren Auditorium)
  11. – Thur. Oct. 18, 2018  5pm University of Southern California (VKC 260) Los Angeles
  12. – Mon. Sept. 24, 2018 6pm  Duke University (Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room 153) (see )- included in the broader
  13. “Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies: A Conversation and Reading” – Thur. May 24, 2018  6pm – NYU Casa Italian Zerilli-Marimò. See .
  14. – Tue. April 10, 2018 5pm – Santa Clara University, CA (sponsored by the Italian Studies Program in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and the Dr. Victor and Julia Botto Vari Italian Studies Initiative) See .
  15. “Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies” – Thur. April 5, 2018 12noon – University of California Santa Barbara (sponsored by the Department of Black Studies).
  16. – Wed. April 4, 2018 2pm – California State University Long Beach (sponsored by the Graziadio Center for Italian Studies as part of the Comparative Migrations Lecture Series).
  17. – Mon. April 2, 2018 4pm – San Diego State University, CA (sponsored by the Italian Program in the European Studies Dept. as part of the European Studies Lecture Series). See .
  18. – Tue. January 30, 2018, 4:45pm – Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA (sponsored by the Department of Italian Studies and the programs in International Studies and Africana Studies and the Miller Humanities Fund).

  19. Panel with the author and Montclair State colleagues Nancy Carnevale (History), Stephen Ruszczyk (Sociology) and  Tony Spanakos (Political Science and Law) – Mon. Dec. 11, 2017 6:30pm vlog, NJ

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Pre-Occupied Spaces Book cover

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Teresa Fiore’s current bio (Sept. 2018)

Prof. Teresa Fiore is the Theresa and Lawrence R. Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at vlog. The recipient of several fellowships (De Bosis, Rockefeller, and Fulbright), she was Visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard University, NYU, and Rutgers University. She is the author of Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies (Fordham UP 2017), which received the in the 20th-21st centuries category and an , was also nominated for the 2018 Bridge Book Award and voted . She is also the editor of the 2006 issue of Quaderni del ‘900, devoted to John Fante, and the co-editor of a special section of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies’ Fall 2018 issue about the migration “crisis” in the Mediterranean Sea. Her numerous articles on migration to/from Italy linked to 20th- and 21st-century Italian literature and cinema have been published in Italian, English and Spanish in both journals (Bollettino d’italianistica; Annali d’Italianistica; Studi italiani; El hilo de la fabula; Diaspora; Zibaldone; Journal of Italian Media and Cinema Studies) and edited collections (Postcolonial Italy; the MLA volume Teaching Italian American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture; The Cultures of Italian Migration; The Routledge History of Italian Americans; and New Italian Migrations to the United States, Vol. 2). Fiore’s current project focuses on food and hunger in Sicily at the time of the Allied Landing in 1943. She has also published in the field of Translation (Donne in Traduzione), and on the topic of innovation in Italian Studies (TILCA) with a special focus on the concept of Critical Made in Italy. On campus, she coordinates a regular program of cultural events and educational initiatives (internships, summer courses for high school students, special class projects) that focus on the circulation of people, ideas, languages, products from/to Italy: