The Somali Within: Language, Race and Belonging in "Minor" Italian Literature

189 Pages·2015·7.777 MB·

by  Simone Brioni

The Somali Within
Language, Race and Belonging in ‘Minor’ Italian Literature
Legenda
legenda, founded in 1995 by the european Humanities Research Centre of
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ITaLIan PeRSPeCTIveS
Editorial Committee
Professor Simon gilson, University of Warwick (general editor)
dr Francesca Billiani, University of Manchester
dr Manuele gragnolati, Somerville College, Oxford
dr Catherine Keen, University College London
Professor Martin McLaughlin, Magdalen College, Oxford
Founding Editors
Professor Zygmunt Baran´ski and Professor anna Laura Lepschy
In the light of growing academic interest in Italy and the reorganization of many
university courses in Italian along interdisciplinary lines, this book series, founded
now continuing under the Legenda imprint, aims to bring together different
scholarly perspectives on Italy and its culture. Italian Perspectives publishes books and
collections of essays on any period of Italian literature, language, history, culture,
politics, art, and media, as well as studies which take an interdisciplinary
approach and are methodologically innovative.
appearing in this series
20. Ugo Foscolo and English Culture, by Sandra Parmegiani
21. The Printed Media in Fin-de-siècle Italy: Publishers, Writers, and Readers, ed. by ann Hallamore
Caesar, gabriella Romani, and Jennifer Burns
22. Giraffes in the Garden of Italian Literature: Modernist Embodiment in Italo Svevo, Federigo Tozzi
and Carlo Emilio Gadda, by deborah amberson
23. Remembering Aldo Moro: The Cultural Legacy of the 1978 Kidnapping and Murder, ed. by Ruth
glynn and giancarlo Lombardi
24. Disrupted Narratives: Illness, Silence and Identity in Svevo, Pressburger and Morandini, by emma
Bond
25. Dante and Epicurus: A Dualistic Vision of Secular and Spiritual Fulfilment, by george Corbett
26. Edoardo Sanguineti: Literature, Ideology and the Avant-Garde, ed. by Paolo Chirumbolo and
John Picchione
27. The Tradition of the Actor-Author in Italian Theatre, ed. by donatella Fischer
28. Leopardi’s Nymphs: Grace, Melancholy, and the Uncanny, by Fabio a. Camilletti
29. Gadda and Beckett: Storytelling, Subjectivity and Fracture, by Katrin Wehling-giorgi
30. Caravaggio in Film and Literature: Popular Culture’s Appropriation of a Baroque Genius, by Laura
Rorato
31. The Italian Academies 1525-1700: Networks of Culture, Innovation and Dissent, ed. by Jane e.
everson, denis v. Reidy and Lisa Sampson
32. Rome Eternal: The City As Fatherland, by guy Lanoue
33. The Somali Within: Language, Race and Belonging in ‘Minor’ Italian Literature, by Simone Brioni
34. Laughter from Realism to Modernism: Misfits and Humorists in Pirandello, Svevo, Palazzeschi, and
Gadda, by alberto godioli
35. Pasolini after Dante: The ‘Divine Mimesis’ and the Politics of Representation, by emanuela Patti
Managing Editor
dr graham nelson, 41 Wellington Square, Oxford ox1 2jf, UK
www.legendabooks.com

The Somali Within
Language, Race and Belonging
in ‘Minor’ Italian Literature
❖
Simone Brioni
Italian Perspectives 33
Modern Humanities Research association and Routledge
2015
First published 2015
Published by the
Modern Humanities Research Association
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and
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Modern Humanities Research Association and Routledge
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© Modern Humanities Research Association and Taylor & Francis 2015
ISBN 978-1-909662-64-3 (hbk)
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Disclaimer: Statements of fact and opinion contained in this book are those of the author
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may be made.
Contents
❖
Acknowledgements ix
Note on Translation and Alphabetization xi
List of Figures xii
Introduction: The Somali Italian Encounter 1
1 Language 18
2 Race 60
3 Belonging 112
Conclusion: Becoming 145
Bibliography 156
Index 172
in memoriam
giulio debbia
Stefano ghidini
Carla Macoggi
ACKnoWLeDGeMents
❖
I would like to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the research institutions that
provided support to the development and completion of this book. The Phd research
that forms the basis of this study was funded by the department of Italian at the
University of Warwick, which also promoted the organization of research events that
have enhanced my work substantially. I can never thank the department and the
Institute of advanced Studies at the University of Warwick enough for welcoming
me with such a stimulating and collegial research atmosphere. My grateful thanks
goes to the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women’s Writing and the School
of advanced Studies, University of London, for their professional help and support
to my research during my visiting Fellowship. I also want to thank my colleagues
at the State University of new York at Stony Brook for their warm welcome in
the department of european Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. I am deeply
appreciative of the financial support this book has received from the Faculty of arts,
Humanities, and Social Sciences Research and Interdisciplinary Initiatives Fund at
Stony Brook University.
There are so many who have provided me with vital information and excellent
advice on the book, and it would be impossible to thank all of them. Jennifer Burns
supervised my Phd thesis and I can never thank her and Loredana Polezzi enough
for their guidance and insight. This book would not have been possible without their
support and encouragement throughout these years. My heartfelt thanks go to derek
duncan for his attentive reading and input on the thesis. I also would like to thank
Simon gilson and the editorial board of the ‘Italian Perspectives’ series for having
welcomed the project of this book, graham nelson for his kind help in all stages of
the publication process, nigel Hope for his careful review of the text, and the external
reader of the manuscript of the book for useful advice. I am grateful for insightful
comments on unpublished sections of this book from emma Bond, giacomo
Comiati, Maya angela Smith, and Katrin Wehling-giorgi. The lively and thought-
provoking dialogue about the documentaries La quarta via. Mogadiscio, Italia, and Aulò:
Roma postcoloniale provided The Somali Within with an incredible source of inspiration.
I offer very sincere thanks to those researchers, writers, friends, and colleagues who
participated in this fruitful intellectual exchange: ali Mumin ahad, Franca Bimbi,
guido Bonsaver, Silvia Camilotti, Manuela Coppola, giovanna Covi, ellen davis-
Walker, alvise del Pra’, alessandra diazzi, Federico Faloppa, Olivier Favier, Paola
giuli, Manuele gragnolati, Cadigia Hassan, Cristoph Holzey, Tom Langley, Sabrina
Marchetti, Sara Marzagora, Federica Mazzara, Malachi McIntosh, Francesca Minonne,
Kombola Ramadhani Mussa, giusy Muzzopappa, Carlo nobili, Helena Oikarinen-
Jabai, Fulvio Pezzarossa, davide Sforzini, Marina Spunta, neelam Srivastava, Maddalena