| Unit name | Italian Colonialism: History, Memory, Culture |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ITALM0009 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Burdett |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Italian |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The course IS co-taught by Derek Duncan. It begins by examining the various stages of Italian colonialism: it looks at the seizure of Eritrea at the end of the nineteenth century, at the colonisation of Libya in the wake of the 1911 war and the conquest of Ethiopia in the second decade of Mussolini's rule. From an analysis of the economic, military and demographic reasons behind the colonial enterprise pursued single-mindedly by the governments of both Liberal and Fascist Italy, the course examines a series of texts representative of the Italian 'mission' in Africa. It looks at accounts of journeys to Libya and Italian East Africa, at films on imperial and colonial themes produced in the 1930's, at the writings of prominent officials in the administration of the colonies and at the extensive exhibition and magazine culture of the period. The concluding section of the course looks at the rapid demise of the Italian Empire and at the way in which divergent memories of Italian East Africa have been articulated since the end of the Second World War.
