Date of Award
Spring 5-6-2012
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Emanuela Guano
Second Advisor
Dr. Jennifer Patico
Third Advisor
Dr. Kathryn Kozaitis
Abstract
The combination of poorly managed mass tourism, rapidly increasing international migration, and a declining economy facilitated a permanent exodus of natives out of the Venetian lagoon. This thesis examines how the community activism group and social network Venessia.com attempts to reclaim a place-based and place-manifested Venetian identity (venezianità) through theatrical public protests. While members are sensitive to an ethic of intercultural awareness, the discourse accompanying their concerns reveals nostalgia for the power and grandeur of Venice’s past that is threatened by a perceived invasion by suspicious outsiders. The theoretical framework I employ to illuminate Venessia.com's efforts includes the socio-cultural and economic implications of mass tourism, theory of space and place, and critiques of modernity and postmodernity.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/2771888
Recommended Citation
Tapp, Ivey R., "Political Theatre in Public Spaces: Manifesting Identity in Venice, Italy." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2012.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/2771888