The Heritage Gaze: Naples, Made in Italy
摘要
This chapter explores the emergence of a heritage gaze on Naples in Italian fashion and film in the mid- to late 2010s. Focusing on Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda show in Naples (2016) and two films released at the dawn of the ‘heritage moment’, the Manetti Bros.’ Ammore e malavita (2017) and Ferzan Ozpetek’s Napoli velata (2017), it explores how viewing the city through a heritage lens implicitly nationalizes Naples by constructing it in accordance with the terms of the Made in Italy meta brand. The emergence of a heritage gaze on Naples, then, suggests a normalization of the city in the cultural imaginary and a rebalancing of relations between Naples and Italy. I argue that the works in question demonstrate a peculiarly Neapolitan expression of heritage consciousness which exemplifies the ‘accented’ understanding of italianità that I have discussed throughout this book. However, I also point to the questions that expression raises about the conceptualization of heritage in Italy and, in particular, about the role of popular cultural heritage in national heritage discourse.