One stereotype, many representations: Turkey in Italian Geopolitics

A recent re-assessment of the role that cultural factors play in geopolitics has resulted in a profound re-conceptualisation of the field. This new approach affords representations special importance, since they reveal a great deal about those who propose them. National stereotypes, a specific kind of representation, provide valuable insight into popular readings of the world, and shape the collective geopolitical subconscious. But are the representations and views espoused by the elites also affected by stereotypes? And to what extent can national stereotypes and the counter-representations to which they give rise, withstand the representations imposed by the elites? The article takes a close look at past and present representations of Turkey in Italy in an attempt to answer these questions, and to explore the ways in which national stereotypes can enter geopolitical discursive practice