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Chapter 5 • Giuseppe De Sario, Laura Corradi, Patricia Ruiz, Enrica Capussotti
children. All five interviews took place within the Casa di Accoglienza,
Betagna, a shelter-house managed by the Caritas volunteers and the San
Vito Church. The church’s elderly priest, Don Peppino, is a very open person,
respectful of other religions and cultures, and extremely popular in
Brindisi because of his enthusiastic full-time commitment to helping those
seeking refuge on the Puglia coastline. Much of his time is spent picking
up refugees who have just stepped onto the beaches, from their boats,
placing them in the care of local families, and raising funds for their needs
throughout the community.
The following observations hinge on the interactions of two elements. The
first concerns the narratives of individual and collective suffering before
and after the war, particularly those recounting the death of a person
(family, friend or acquaintance), and the fear of death (of those close to
them, for those who have engaged in a close relationship, and of the whole
Kosovar Albanian community).
The second factor was my specific mindset about death. At the time of
the research, I was myself mourning a personal loss. This affected both my
attitude during the interviews, and the subjects’ responses. I should add
that I felt emotionally involved in their narration of their grief. The
experience/knowledge of these matters that they embodied had found an
empathetic listener.
The Centre: Florence
Florence, at the geographical centre of Italy, is one of the nation’s richest
towns, attracts tourists from all over the world, and is one of the largest
shopping destinations for those searching for “authentic” Western culture.
The town has become a refuge for the Romany from Kosovo, some of
whom were interviewed by Enrica Capussotti. She evokes the experience
thus:
The seven Roma I interviewed in Florence had arrived there because
members of their families were already living in the city. This follows the
traditional migration strategy, where the presence of already established
networks serves as a primary reason for choosing a destination.
Florence, also, has its “peripheries”. Today, one of the most prominent of
these is the area where immigrants from the East and South of the world
have come to live. By “peripheries” I refer not only to the area geographically
located outside the city’s centre, but also to the places in the city
itself that are perceived as “marginal” in the local sense: the railway-
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