“NOI ITALIANI SIAMO COSÌ”: REALIZZARE L’IDENTITÀ IN UNA CONVERSAZIONE DI EMIGRATI ITALIANI

One of the main issues in the field of migration linguistics is the construction of identity within discursive practices where speakers call their identities into question starting from the language. Indeed, identity is intended as the linguistic construction of the membership to one or more social groups or categories that are constructed through the use of communicative practices (Kroskrity 2001: 106, but see also e De Fina 2003, 2011, Prifti 2014, Romaine 2014). We assume the notion of identity as a flexible construct: the same person can enact multiple identities depending on the different contexts of interaction. Our study focuses on the way identities are built and used in an encounter and, in particular, on the following research questions: Which strategies do speakers use to represent their identity? Which kind of identity do they perform? Data are taken from the conversations of seven Calabrian emigrants. Our data show that informants alternatively classify themselves as part of their own culture or the culture of the host country, through the stories they tell, showing a plurality of emerging and conflictual identities.