The Horn of Africa and Italy

Simone Brioni is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Stony Brook University. His research focuses on migration studies and postcolonial theory with a particular emphasis on contemporary Italian culture.

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.

This multidisciplinary volume analyses key cultural themes in colonial, postcolonial and transnational encounters between Italy and its former colonies in the Horn of Africa, with essays by experts in comparative literature, cultural studies, history, migration studies, political philosophy and postcolonial theory.

CONTENTS: Olindo De Napoli: Law: The Myth of Progress and Differentialism in the Liberal Age - Wu Ming 2: Landscape: Somalia as Seen in Italian Colonial Literature - Lee Cassanelli: History: Italian Fascist Visions of Somalia's Past and Future - Shimelis Bonsa Gulema: Urbanism: History, Legacy, and Memory of the Italian Occupation in Addis Ababa (1936-1941) - Sara Marzagora: Nationalism: The Italian Occupation in Amharic Literature and Political Thought - Antonio Maria Morone: Racism: Meticci on the Eve of Colonial Downfall -Daniele Comberiati: Decolonization: Representing the Trusteeship Administration of Somalia - Lorenzo Mari: Heroes: A Transnational Reconsideration of Mohammed Abdulle Hassan and Omar al-Mukhtar in Literature and Film - Milena Belloni: Diaspora: A «Postcolonial» Migration? An Analysis of Eritrean Mobility Trajectories - Simone Brioni: Sport: Leisure, Representation, and Politics of Exclusion and Inclusion - Emma Bond: Photography: Memorial Intertexts in New Writing by Maaza Mengiste, Nadifa Mohamed, and Igiaba Scego.