italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
AATI International Conference Abroad
Università per Stranieri di Siena
June 22-26, 2015
PANEL: Africa in the Italian Imaginary
Since the end of the XIX century the Italian colonial enterprise in
Africa was accompanied by the elaboration of a colonial imaginary
aimed on the one side at defining and controlling the mind of the
colonized and on the other at articulating at home the perception of a
subaltern population whose culture, economy, and political aspirations
needed to be governed by the civilized west. Throughout the XX century
Italian art, architecture, literature, and cinema have impacted
significantly on the dissemination of a racialized and clichéd
fictionalization of Africa. In recent years, the lack of a systematic
historical examination of the Italian colonial past was among the
major factors contributing to the persistence of such clichés, which
have gained credence in the political parlance as well as in the
cultural production of the new millennium.
Purposely linking the postcolonial discursive framework with nomadic
thought, the posthuman, ecocriticism and feminist theory, our panel
invites explorations into the ways Africa is imagined, represented,
and negotiated in Italian literature, cinema, and the arts. We welcome
abstracts considering a variety of issues, interpretations, and
readings. Recommended topics include, but are not limited to the
following:
- Historical representations of Africa in architecture, sculpture and
fascist monumental works
- Literary and artistic forms of witnessing
- The relationship between myth and archetypes in films and documentaries
- Representations of Africa in Italian cinema
- Cross-cultural negotiations in theater
- Colonialist photography, posters, and advertisement
- Anthropology and the sciences at the service of the empire
- Africa in the media
Please send your 200-300 word abstract, in English and in Italian, by
February 15, 2015 to the session organizers, Anna Maria Chierici
([log in to unmask]) and Simona Wright ([log in to unmask])
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