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The life of Mario Tchou in the graphic novel La Macchina Zero. A transnational Sino-Italian scientist

  • Andrea Scibetta

The current contribution aims at describing some key aspects in Rocchi and Demonte’s graphic novel La Macchina Zero, published in 2021. This is Rocchi and Demonte’s third work narrating stories of Chinese migration to Italy, after Primavere e Autunni (2015) and Chinamen (2017). Differently from the first two graphic novels, La Macchina Zero gives back to collective memory a new glimpse on the history of Chinese in Italy, focusing on the role of Mario Tchou, a brilliant Sino-Italian electronic scientist, and his contribution both to the economic growth of the Olivetti enterprise and to the creation of one of the first new generation computers, ELEA 9003. The first part will highlight on the main events narrated in the graphic novel. After that, some specific considerations about the structure and style, semiotic aspects and communicative functions of La Macchina Zero will also be provided, also in comparison with the previous two works. The third paragraph will specifically focus on Mario Tchou, his life and his crucial contribution, as a transnational scientist, to the ascent of Olivetti worldwide.

  • Keywords:
  • Graphic novel,
  • Mario Tchou,
  • Sino-Italian scientist,
  • technological innovation,
+ Show More

Andrea Scibetta

University for Foreigners of Siena, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-2088-5569

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  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 61-79
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

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  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

The life of Mario Tchou in the graphic novel La Macchina Zero. A transnational Sino-Italian scientist

Authors

Andrea Scibetta

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0068-4.07

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Words and visions around/about Chinese transnational mobilities 流动

Editors

Valentina Pedone, Miriam Castorina

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

204

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0068-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0067-7

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0068-4

eISBN (epub)

979-12-215-0069-1

Series Title

Studi e saggi

Series ISSN

2704-6478

Series E-ISSN

2704-5919

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