“Cement, Guide and Representative for the Exile and the Emigrant”: Ideological Discourse and italianità in L’Italo-Australiano

L’Italo-Australiano was the first Italian-language newspaper in Australia and was published in Sydney for a brief period, in 1885. The chapter analyses the ideological discourse of this newspaper within the historical context of its production. In particular, the analysis focuses on the newspaper’s interpretation of the character of italianità, identifying the way in which such interpretation influenced the definition of the (imagined) Italian community addressed by the newspaper, as well as the terms of the relationship with a homeland whose features were in continual transformation, and with an equally evolving Australian dimension. The study applies a transnational perspective to the analysis, which allows to consider the cross-border interrelations and connections that were involved in the production of the newspaper.