Climate Migrations and Reverse Colonisation in Italian Eco-Dystopias

This article investigates the representation of climate migration and climate colonialism in contemporary Italian eco-dystopias. After a theoretical introduction, I address the representation of migrants, and of Italians as climate migrants, in Paolo Zardi's XXI secolo (2015) and Bruno Arpaia's Qualcosa, là fuori (2016). Climate migration is a growing phenomenon that is intimately connected with Anthropocenic violence, and that will produce changes in society and demographics, challenging existing notions of nationality and culture. In the second part, I discuss two novels (Tommaso Pincio's Cinacittà, 2008, and Antonio Scurati's La seconda mezzanotte, 2011) that deal with what I call, following Stephen D. Arata, the anxiety of reverse colonisation. These two novels portray (and express) a fear of a takeover of Italy by the Chinese that is rooted in both long-standing anti-immigration prejudices and the new shapes of contemporary economic colonialism.