KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Am Marktplatz 2
85072 Eichstätt
Feliciana.Chiaradia@ku.de
Feliciana Chiaradia pursued her studies at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, the Universitat de Barcelona, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and La Sapienza University of Rome. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Romance Studies (2018) with a specialization in Linguistics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, where she conducted an experimental thesis in cognitive linguistics. Her research explored metaphor as a grammatical device, analyzing it as a potential framework for dysphemistic categorization related to grammatical gender.
Subsequently, she obtained Master’s degrees in Intercultural Communication (2021) and Film and Media Culture (2022) from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. For her final project in Intercultural Communication, titled “Belonging or Not Belonging? That is the Question: A Reflection on Identities in the Mazara del Vallo Community – Between the Red Prawn War and the Idyll of Cross-Cultural Resonance”, Feliciana conducted an analysis of a critical incident. The study examined the limitations of citizenship under the ius sanguinis law in Italy, the consequences of rigid legal interpretations, and the identity challenges faced by second-generation immigrants.
For her Master’s thesis in Film and Media Culture, she analyzed the organization of space in Agnès Varda’s documentaries. Her research investigated how the filmmaker’s movements inform the transition from “implicit” to “explicit” narration, examining its degree and functionality in relation to spatial theories and cinematographic techniques.
Her current research focuses on the (self-)representation of identities within two specific groups: the ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria (Italy) and the Cártel de Sinaloa in Mexico.
(De-)Constructing Mafia Identities: Production Design Practices in and about the Italian ´Ndrangheta and the Mexican Cártel de Sinaloa
This research examines contemporary screen representations of organized crime through an analysis of production design and its relationship to place in selected films and television series set in Calabria (Italy) and Sinaloa (Mexico). Focusing on production design as a key representational practice, the project investigates how settings, objects, interiors, and spatial environments as well as black-boxed decision-making processes contribute to the visual construction of places associated with the ’Ndrangheta and the Sinaloa Cartel, making them legible and culturally intelligible to transnational audiences.
By exploring how visual environments are designed and aestheticized, the study highlights the role of spatial and material elements in shaping the screen re-presentation of criminality. It also demonstrates how production design choices not only define atmosphere and tone, but mediate the audience’s perception of place, contributing to the circulation of specific imaginaries associated with Calabria and Sinaloa.
Methodologically, the project combines comparative audiovisual analysis with production design studies, spatial analysis, gender perspectives, and Actor-Network Theory, while also drawing on archival research and exploratory interviews with production designers. This interdisciplinary approach makes it possible to analyse how recurring visual patterns, material codes, and spatial logics generate distinct yet comparable visual grammars of organized crime across different cultural contexts. Finally, the project considers how production design can make spatial and social conditions visible that often remain overlooked in institutional or official accounts.