Introduction: Cultural Sociology of Cultural Representations of Italy

Abstract

This chapter introduces the study. It begins by identifying the general and specific aims of the study; the scholarly audiences for whom the study is intended; and the strengths and limitations of existing scholarly work on cultural representations of Italy. The discussion then turns to reflect critically on the ‘Saidian Paradigm’, the dominant intellectual framework organising humanities-based and social scientific approaches to thinking and theorising cultural representation to date. The latter stages of the chapter identify and sketch out the form the study will take; the analytical and theoretical division of labour deployed throughout and the rationale underpinning it. The chapter draws to a close by identifying both the specific and wider cultural sociological significance of the contents of the chapters comprising the study.