UC Riverside

Since the inauguration of academic disciplines such as Anthropology, Classics, and Mediterranean Studies, the island of Sardinia and its rich cultural history have remained largely underinvestigated and underappreciated in scholarly work. The typical image of Sardinia, largely dictated by the scant investigations in these disciplines along with the works of travel writers and Italian intellectuals, is one of a backward and savage people belligerently dependent on anti-modern pastoralism. This dissertation project, motivated by the Sardinian slogan “Sardigna no est Italia” (“Sardinia is not Italy”), explores the nuanced notion of resistance on the island. Beginning with an overview of the contemporary North-South struggle in Italy and the economic subjugation faced by Sardinia and the South after unification, this dissertation documents the many phases of subjugation and exploitation Sardinians have resisted as far back as classical antiquity. In doing so, this project highlights the island’s role as a Mediterranean trading center since the Neolithic period as well as the advanced Nuragic civilization, thereby challenging traditional historiography which has centered Greece and Rome as the ‘civilizing’ forces of the Mediterranean Basin. In connecting perennial resistance from antiquity to the present, this work emphasizes the critical need for collaboration between classical studies and cultural studies by acknowledging that contemporary cultural identity and resistance are deeply entrenched in the historical past. The remainder of this dissertation focuses on the many forms of artistic production – murals, graffiti, public art, political posters, and literature – which serve as the primary preservation efforts for the island’s rich cultural heritage. The Sardinian language is also explored both in terms of its historical development and of the contentious sociolinguistic dilemma birthed from national language movements forced by peninsular Italy. In sum, this dissertation intends to reclaim Sardinian identity by bringing it from the liminal periphery of Italy, the Mediterranean, and academic scholarship and placing it at the fore of Mediterranean Studies moving forward.