The Horn of Africa and Italy: Colonial, Postcolonial and Transnational Cultural Encounters

Description

This multidisciplinary volume analyses key themes and topics related to the cultural encounters between Italy and its former colonies in the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia). The multi-faceted relations between the Horn of Africa and Italy were initiated during the colonial period but have also been shaped more recently through migration. In eleven chapters by experts in comparative literature, cultural studies, history, migration studies, political philosophy and postcolonial theory, the volume highlights how the legacy of colonialism permeates Italian society as well as influencing the construction of national identities in the Horn of Africa. The analysis of this transnational encounter opens up new possibilities for comparative research and critical synergies in Italian studies, African studies and beyond. List of Figures vii Acknowledgements ix A Note on the Text xi Simone Brioni and Shimelis Bonsa Gulema Introduction: A Transnational Cultural Encounter 1 Part I Colonialism 45 Olindo De Napoli 1 Law: The Myth of Progress and Differentialism in the Liberal Age 47 Wu Ming 2 2 Landscape: Somalia as Seen in Italian Colonial Literature 73 Lee Cassanelli 3 History: Italian Fascist Visions of Somalia’s Past and Future 93 Part II Postcolonialism 107 Shimelis Bonsa Gulema 4 Urbanism: History, Legacy, and Memory of the Italian Occupation in Addis Ababa (1936–1941) 109 vi Sara Marzagora 5 Nationalism: The Italian Occupation in Amharic Literature and Political Thought 141 Antonio Maria Morone 6 Racism: Meticci on the Eve of Colonial Downfall 167 Daniele Comberiati 7 Decolonization: Representing the Trusteeship Administration of Somalia 193 Part III Transnationalism 215 Lorenzo Mari 8 Heroes: A Transnational Reconsideration of Mohammed Abdulle Hassan and Omar al-Mukhtar in Literature and Film 217 Milena Belloni 9 Diaspora: A ‘Postcolonial’ Migration? An Analysis of Eritrean Mobility Trajectories 241 Simone Brioni 10 Sport: Leisure, Representation, and Politics of Exclusion and Inclusion 265 Emma Bond 11 Photography: Memorial Intertexts in New Writing by Maaza Mengiste, Nadifa Mohamed, and Igiaba Scego 295 Notes on Contributors 319 Index 323