ITEM

Africanella Item Info

Africanella - item

Object ID:
demo_1372
Creator:
Odeon
Type of Sound:
Music
Music Composer:
Gino Simi
Instruments:
Orchestra
Type of Music:
One-Step
Date:
1936
Identifier:
GO 12467
Linked Recording:
demo_1371
Rights:
metadata-only record, please check the publication for rights
Source:
Corriere Musicale Rassegna Fonografica, January 25 - February 25, 1936
Description:
This recording is part of a vast propaganda repertoire of popular songs designed to accompany the political preparation and conduct of the Second Italo-Ethiopian Conflict, followed by the victory of Fascist troops and the founding of the Italian Empire in East Africa. These songs evoke this colonial war and its finality, using a wide range of modes and themes. In addition to the war and the Fascist martyrs, many of these songs assert the legitimacy of Italian colonization of Ethiopia, and more broadly of East Africa, presenting it in particular as a liberating and civilizing mission carried out among indigenous populations who were allegedly enslaved by the Emperor of Ethiopia, the Negus Haile Selassie. Throughout this repertoire, colonized populations are the subject of racist representations. When they evoke the "African woman", these racist representations also become sexual (see Gianpaolo Chiriacò, "Afrovocality – Ethiopia in 1930 Italian Popular Music", https://afrovocality.com/eirpop/ethiopia-in-1930-italian-popular-music/, accessed on February 12, 2025).
Online Resources:
https://canzoneitaliana.it/en/canzone/africanella-5-en/
Performers:
Orchestra Italiana Fortis
Music by:
Gino Simi
Instruments:
Orchestra
Genre:
One-Step
Sound Type:
Music
Related Record:
demo_1371
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Africanella", REDIRE Database, Bonn Center for Digital Humanities (BCDH)
Reference Link:
http://localhost:4000/items/demo_1372.html
Rights
Rights:
metadata-only record, please check the publication for rights