Between prejudices and stereotypes: gaBriele de luca and the representation of immigrants in italiantv dramas

The representation of immigrants by media and popular culture may be accepted as an index of their level of social andcultural integration inside the local community. An Italian research, focused on media and immigrants, underlines “Theinadequacy of the communication system to account for the complexity and, above all, of the different realities and plurimisubjects of the social body”. In summary, Italian media generally offer a stereotypical image, usually characterized by adramatic perspective, by an emotional language and by a partial representation of the multifaceted world of “otherness”.Italian television dramas seem to be no exception and contribute to create a real negative mythopoeic of the migrant, who isusually depicted as an individual on the edge of society and legality. In order to make this point, after a short introductionto the topic, the article focuses on the TV series casting Gabriele de Luca, a young actor, who, because of his physiognomicattributes, is usually casted as a migrant. The analysis is completed by an interview with the actor.

Keywords: migrations, fiction.