Le scuole complementari cinesi in Italia dopo la pandemia, fra grandi città, provincia e l’Europa

Interest in minority languages as heritage languages and in the schools where they are taught emerged in the early 21st century. Anglo-American literature quickly focused on the Chinese community and Chinese as a heritage language. In Italy, the topic has received some attention, mainly from Chinese scholars, with the last comprehensive study dating back to 2015. Over the past decade, Chinese complementary schools in Italy have significantly expanded in the country and evolved. After the pandemic, both state-sponsored online initiatives from the PRC and digital programs developed by the schools themselves supported the teaching activities. This paper aims to offer an updated overview of Chinese schools in Italy, exploring the development of this heterogeneous landscape and proposing a typology of institutions. Particular attention is given to provincial contexts, often overlooked in previous research, yet playing a key role in shaping local dynamics, comparable in significance to those in major cities.