The Language and Stereotype of Italians in Irish Culture

Abstract

This book examines the language of stereotyping produced by Irish journalists of The Irish Times and by Irish writers in their description, creation and interpretation of Italians living in Ireland and in Italy. The so-called Celtic Tiger phenomenon of economic boom has modified the images of Italians in Ireland, contributing to a shift from stereotypes to the so-called imagotypes. While in Ireland Italians have recently been “replaced” by such ethnic identities like Poles and Nigerians, and have consequently become more silent, in their home country they still retain those traits which can be defined truly stereotypical and which are especially perpetuated by the press. Detecting the presence of such clichéd images and seeing how their linguistic representation works within the two genres in question has been the main objective of the current study.