ABSTRACT

This article examines the progressive inclusion of the term ‘homophobia’ on the pages of two relevant Italian liberal newspapers (Corriere della Sera and la Repubblica) between 1979 and 2007. Combining frequency analysis and critical discourse analysis, we aim at reconstructing when and how the term ‘homophobia’ became a keyword in various public debates on the country’s sexual modernization. Our analysis reveals the ambivalent encounter of liberal norms and anti-homophobic rhetoric in the considered newspapers, focusing on two main dynamics. The first one corresponds to the broadening of the practical meanings of ‘homophobia’ beyond the normative stances of the L.G.B.T. activism. The second one refers to the discursive linking of (anti)homophobia with Western ideas of sexual citizenship and the representation of otherness in a country where the political agenda of the L.G.B.T. movement has relatively failed.

摘要

本文探讨两个意大利相关自由派报纸（的页面的“同性恋”一词的逐步纳入晚邮报和共和报）1979年至2007年之间的结合频率分析和批评话语分析，我们的目标是重建的时候以及如何“同性恋恐惧症”一词在有关该国性现代化的各种公开辩论中成为关键词。我们的分析揭示了在所考虑的报纸中，自由规范和反同性恋言论的矛盾之处，主要集中在两个方面。第一个对应于“同性恋恐惧症”的实际含义的扩展，超出了LGBT行动主义的规范立场。第二个是指（同性恋）恐惧症与西方性公民身份观念的辩驳性联系，以及在一个LGBT运动政治议程相对失败的国家中的其他代表。