Dr Francesco Ricatti

BA Hons (University of Rome La Sapienza) PhD
former IPRS IPA holder
Room 725, MacCallum/Brennan building (A18)

Francesco Ricatti was born in Rome in 1974. In 1999 he graduated in Italian Contemporary Literature from the University of Rome La Sapienza.

In 2002 he won a scholarship from The University of Rome La Sapienza to study Italian migration to Australia at The University of Sydney. He was awarded his PhD in 2007.

His thesis, "Embodying Italian Migrants: Impossible dialogues, spectral fantasies, and the body. Letters to Mamma Lena (La Fiamma, Australia, 1956)" examines examine migrants’ material and discursive practices around the body, through a cultural historical analysis of the letters sent by Italian migrants to Lena Gustin during her collaboration between 1956 and 1964 with La Fiamma, one of the most important Italian language newspapers published in Australia. These letters represent an extraordinarily rich treasure of testimonies about Italian migration to Australia, and, above all, about the way in which Italian migrants spoke about their bodies (sexuality, self-beautification, maternity, illness, mental disorders, etc.). The thesis has been awarded the Premio Altreitalie 2008 for the best foreign thesis on Italian emigration.

Following the award of his PhD, Francesco has been appointed Cassamarca Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

• History of Italian migration to Australia
• Migrants’ material and discursive practices around the body
• The construction of Italian identity in migratory contexts

Book Chapters

• Ricatti, F. (2006), Sexual and ethnic identity in a migratory context. Letter to an Italian-Australian newspaper [To be published in the proceeding of the MCALS Diasporas Conference, held at The University of Wollongong, 8-10 October 2004]

Articles

• Ricatti, F. (2006), Sentirsi uomo. An emblematic case of desired transsexuality in the Italian Australian community, in History Australia (d (1): pp. 6.1-6.10. DOI: 10.2104/ha060006.
• Ricatti, F. (2005), Corpi migranti e pratiche discorsive: frammenti di una dissonante colonna sonora, in Wilson, R. and Scarparo, S. eds. (2005), Representation of Italian diaspora in Australia. Studi di italianistica nell’Africa Australe / Italian studies in Southern Africa, 18 (I): 1-19.
• Pitronaci, S. and Ricatti, F. (2006), Team-teaching for teacher and student learning: reflections from a beginners' Italian unit. Synergy 24: 3-6.
• Ricatti, F. (forthcoming 2007). Sexual and ethnic identity in a migratory context. Letters to an Italian Australian newspaper. Proceedings of the MCALS Diasporas Conference, University of Wollongong, 8-10 October 2004.

Teaching

• Italian language
  Italian literature
  Italian cultural studies