From the island to the archipelago. Decolonial imaginaries from contemporary Sardinia

This dissertation explores decolonial discourses emerging from contemporary literary and visual texts from Sardinia. Positioned at the center of the Western Mediterranean, between Europe and Africa, Sardinia has historically been a site of conflicting modernity narratives. Its relationship with Piedmont since the late 18th century—and later with Italy—has been shaped by colonial dynamics that continue to render the island subordinate to the mainland.Antonio Gramsci first framed the Sardinian question within the broader subalternity of Italy’s South, advocating alliances between marginalized regions and the working classes of the industrial North. The works analyzed in this dissertation expand these alliances beyond national boundaries, linking Sardinia’s condition to global Souths. Rather than examining the island’s subordination solely within the context of Italian hegemony, these texts position colonial modernity as the broader framework underpinning Sardinia’s otherness and subalternity.A central argument of this dissertation is that Sardinia’s islandness has been instrumental in its subjugation to the mainland. However, local re-articulations of insularity challenge the presumed dependence of islands on continental centers of power and knowledge. Out of this reconfiguration emerge archipelagic imaginaries, in which the decolonization of Sardinia and the redefinition of its cultural identity take place not within the confines of the Italian nation-state but in dialogue with the postcolonial world. Adopting a decolonial perspective, this dissertation engages in interdisciplinary analysis to capture the complexity of its case studies.Chapter 1 examines two literary works by Sardinian author Sergio Atzeni—Passavamo sulla terra leggeri (1996) and Raccontar fole (1999)—which address the construction of Sardinia’s otherness in 18th- and 19th-century European travel literature. These texts challenge the Italian nation-state’s erasure of Sardinian history by reframing it as a Mediterranean history, thereby contesting the notion of Italy as an exclusively white, "northern" space.Chapter 2 investigates the ongoing militarization of Sardinia by the Italian and NATO military, which has led to environmental and health crises as well as economic stagnation. Through an analysis of Marcello Fois’s book trilogy—Sempre caro (1998), Sangue dal cielo (1999), and L’altro mondo (2002)—alongside Orgosolo’s political muralism (1960s–present), the chapter traces the historical construction of Sardinia’s “backwardness,” a discourse used to justify military presence on the island. These sources establish connections between Sardinia’s colonial subjugation and other colonized or formerly colonized regions, reinforcing the decolonial narratives they articulate.Chapter 3 addresses the touristification of Sardinia through externally imposed models, focusing on the rhetoric surrounding Costa Smeralda tourism and the 2018 documentary Balentes: The Brave Ones by Lisa Camillo. By engaging with contemporary literary and visual works—including Assandira by Giulio Angioni (2004), In Sardegna non c’è il mare by Marcello Fois (2008), Viaggio in Sardegna by Michela Murgia (2008), Nuraghe Beach by Flavio Soriga (2011), and the 2023 film Anna by Marco Amenta—the chapter critiques tourism’s impact on the island. It argues that the Costa Smeralda model perpetuates a modern/colonial discourse that capitalizes on the trope of Sardinian backwardness, forcing locals into a commodified performance of their culture while driving profound territorial transformations that fail to address the island’s long-standing socio-economic challenges.