Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores, on the basis of interviews with migrants from Ukraine and Lebanon, the role that the linguistic pluralism of Ukraine and the religious pluralism of Lebanon could play in the migrants’ discursive challenges to the norms of cultural homogeneity in Italy, as a country of destination. I define such pluralisms as symbolic and rhetorical resources. The ‘Ukrainophone’ and ‘Russophone’ subnational identities were used by some interviewees to affirm a positive self-image in light of a declassing migratory experience, but the same interviewees were reluctant to advance cultural claims in relation to the Italian context. Similarly, Lebanese interviewees preferred to depict their country as ‘Western’ and to use ‘Italian’ discourses to refer to homogeneity norms. I argue that ‘diasporic’ policies, the context of residence and the migratory experience are among the aspects that influence the use of such discursive resources.