Abstract

This thesis offers an analysis of the rhetoric of Italianità or "Italianicity" "spoken" via an architectural object: the Leonardo da Vinci cultural center located in Montreal. Situated in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of St. Leonard, the cultural center reveals the multiple attachments that Italian-Canadians feel for the Italian community, for the city of Montreal, for the province of Quebec and for Canada. The rhetoric of the Leonardo da Vinci center is different from the narratives of Italianità from the past. While in the past the narratives of Italian immigration figured a reflective type of nostalgia, the Leonardo da Vinci cultural center projects this community in the future, revealing a restorative type of nostalgia. In addition, the center represents a venue for the performance of Italian-Canadian citizenship which is multi-faceted and challenges the classical definitions of this concept. The multiplicity of Italian-Canadians' attachments reveals the rise of a new motive in the rhetoric of identification of communities of people who belong away from homeland, namely the post-national motive. Italian immigration to Montreal spanned throughout a century. Today, we speak about 1 st to 5 th generation Italian-Canadians from Montreal. While before, they were a diasporic community, identifying with the place of origins, today they have become a post-national community which identifies with their present location, now their "home". This calls us to argue that while Canada is still defining its national identity, various former immigrant communities constitute a post-nation in the process.