LATILMA · Latin American Testimonies in Italy: a Living Library Between the Mediterranean and the Andes

Latin American Testimonies in Italy: a Living Library Between the Mediterranean and the Andes

LATILMA – Latin American Testimonies in Italy: A Living Library between the Mediterranean and the Andes, aims to collect, study, and publish literary and cultural testimonies of Hispanic American migration in Italy, from a gender perspective. Due to demographic relevance, the study focuses on people coming from Peru and Ecuador, who represent two of the largest migrant communities. Furthermore, the Project focuses on the study of women and LGBTQIA+ people. LATILMA has as its hypothesis the fact that gender and sexual orientation affect the migration process, on the one hand, and that migration can determine changes in family relationships and relationships that concern gender, on the other. Furthermore, migrant communities coming from the countries that have been mentioned above are characterized by an important female presence and by socio-cultural characteristics linked to it. The project is divided into two phases. In the first phase — "outgoing"— LATILMA aimed to study the context of the main Hispanic American community in Italy, the Peruvian one. In Peru, in particular, in-depth studies have been carried out about relations between Peru and Italy, about conditions linked to gender identity, and also about emigration from the country to other nations of the world. Furthermore, in-depth studies have been carried out regarding the presence of women in the Peruvian literary field and the history of feminist and LGBTQIA+ associations and collectives. It was also studied whether, in the Peruvian literary field, the representation of emigration in Italy is present (for example, with publications in bookstores and libraries, in cultural activities, etc.). Finally, studies were carried out on the topic of "return"; this point aims to understand whether the links with the countries of origin remain active or not. The project's second phase is aimed at collecting literary testimonies in Italy. These testimonies have been published in the multimedia anthology which has been published on the LATILMA web page. The anthology's main objective is to offer a review of cultural and literary testimonies (oral and written) found in Italy.From the collected testimonies (partly published on the anthology), LATILMA develops a qualitative study on the self-representation of Latin American transnational identities in Italy, from a gender perspective.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union