UNIPI Team Leader: Prof. Vinzia Fiorino
This project is the first attempt to carry out a systematic investigation of illegal sex work in a European country during the Allied occupation, from a perspective of cultural and transnational history. Focusing on the relations between American soldiers (GIs) and Italian prostitutes (the so-called ‘segnorine’) in 1943-1954, up to the settlement of the Trieste question, the research intends to analyze these women’s experience as the image of the cultural encounters and interconnections between US and Italian societies during the post-WWII transition.
In Italy, the Allies forbade any relationship between ‘foreign’ GIs and local prostitutes. The growth of an illegal sex market was one of the consequences of this decision. What emerges is that the ‘segnorine’ were treated as a great danger and were often victims of violence especially because of their sexual relations with African Americans. I argue that they played a key-role in the process of national re-building, a role that has not been thoroughly investigated by scholars.
The project addresses three core issues:
(1) The intertwining of genderization and racialization in the years of post-fascist democracy;
(2) The transcontinental circulation of ideas and models, with particular attention to the inter-crossing of sexist and racist discrimination (e.g., postcolonial and segregationist stereotypes);
(3) Imaginary frontiers and collective identities. How did Americans look at Italians, and Italian women? How did Italians look at their ‘conquerors’?
I will carry out an extensive review of archival and press sources, also pertaining to pop culture. I will conduct personal interviews too. UNIPI and Fordham University are a perfect match for my project, that will result in three journal articles, a book, and a number of training and dissemination activities. The GF would represent an important step in my career, helping me grow into one of the leading European experts in gender, racial, and warfare studies.
Coordinator: UNIVERSITA DI PISA
Other Participants:
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY CORP (U.S.A.)
Start date: 1 December 2019
End date: 30 November 2022
Project cost: € 269 002,56
Project funding: € 269 002,56
Call title: MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships