Making visible the invisible: Colonial sources and counter body-archives in the boarding schools for Black “mixed race” Italian children in fascist East Africa

ABSTRACT

This article examines life conditions for Black “mixed race children” in the boarding schools of former Italian colonies in East Africa by taking into account both archival colonial sources and oral sources. It problematizes the very notion and function of colonial archival spaces by conceiving “the Archive” as a locus of power characterized by inherent practices of invisibilization in which whiteness has been historically institutionalized and maintained. In contrast, the article suggests the idea of the “body-archive”, namely epidermic and carnal counter-archives of bodies, marked – and scarred – by the histories of colonialism and whiteness. By providing a reading of archival colonial sources “against the grain”, the analysis demonstrates how the gaps, the silences, and the unwritten present in “the Archive” can be filled by the voices and memories of (post)colonial subjects whose counter-narratives may unveil hidden dynamics of power embedded within ideas of knowledge rooted in colonial paradigms.

KEYWORDS:

• Archive
• counter-archive
• body
• Italian colonialism
• oral sources
• memory

Acknowledgements

As theorized by bell hooks, it is challenging to create feminist theory from a location of pain. During the writing up of this paper, my nana passed away. It has been truly challenging carrying on this work based on her experiences of pain and violence as a child, thinking she was no longer there to be able to read it. Yet, bell hooks tells us, it is precisely by acknowledging the pain within us that we can produce healing words and, therefore, healing theory. “Making this theory”, she writes, “is the challenge before us. In its production lies the hope of our liberation, in its production lies the possibility of naming all our pain” (1994, 75–76). Therefore, I want to dedicate this paper to my nana, hoping she can feel proud and dignified by my words; and to bell hooks, whose words taught me to name my pain. I am also very grateful to the editors of this Special Issue, Caterina Romeo and Giulia Fabbri. This work would not have been possible without their unconditional support, encouragement, and patience throughout the process.

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Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. “Mixed race” is a contested term, and in this article it is written without a hyphen to prevent further reification of “race”. In the text, the Italian word meticci indicates the masculine plural form of meticcio, while meticcia is the feminine singular form. In the Italian language, gender norms reflect the domination of patriarchal principles; therefore, when the plural refers to two or more nouns of different genders, the masculine plural is used. Meticcio, like “mulatto” or “mongrel”, is a term that was used to highlight the proximity of “mixed race” people to the animal kingdom and their inability to procreate, similar to certain sterile animals such as mules. The term meticci is used by some “mixed race” Italians as a form of self-identification, and it is despised by others. It is used here because it was part of the colonial language of the historical period under analysis.

2. In my work I use the term Black “mixed race” to identify children born to an African mother and a white Italian father in the former colonies in East Africa. I intentionally use both Black and “mixed” because I believe Blackness is experienced and inhabited in multiple ways, and the association of mixedness as a parallel co-term enriches the study on discourses of racialization related to Black people of African descent. However, I put into quotation marks only “mixed race” and I capitalize Black. This is because Black is not only my chosen identification but also a political identity that I reclaim, as a person of African descent. I am aware that the genealogy of both terms can be traced in the vocabulary of racial classification and white supremacy.

3. All the names used in my research and in my short story are pseudonyms.

4. On the history of Italian colonialism, see, among others, Jacquelien Andall and Derek Duncan (2005) and Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Mia Fuller (2005).

5. This and all subsequent translations from Italian are mine, unless otherwise stated.

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Notes on contributors

Angelica Pesarini

Angelica Pesarini is an assistant professor in race and cultural studies, race and diaspora, and Italian studies at the University of Toronto. Her work explores the intersections of race, gender, citizenship, and identity in colonial and postcolonial Italy, and she is also interested in the racialization of the Italian political discourse on immigration. Active in anti-racist debates in Italy, she co-edited The Black Mediterranean: Bodies, Borders and Citizenship (2021).