The italian colonial heritage in the narratives of second-generation African-italian authors

Abstract

Italy’s late involvement in Africa’s colonization did not make its colonialism less insidious and impactful than that practiced by other European countries. Despite long-held opinions that depict the Italian case as less harmful and hostile, Italy colonized Eritrea, Somalia, Libya, and Ethiopia through violent movements and aggression. Nevertheless, Italy’s inability to properly address the colonial past left the country unprepared to confront the postcolonial present. As a consequence of the missed debate on colonialism, the relationship between Italians and first and second-generation migrants is characterized by an ambiguous modo coloniale di relazionarsi. This essay analyzes how the relazione ambigua generated by the colonial past manifests itself in issues related to citizenship, identity, and gender in contemporary Italy, as well as their representations in Italian postcolonial cultural production by second-generation African-Italian authors.