ITEM

Africanella Item Info

Africanella -

Object ID:
demo_1733
Creator:
Durium
Type of Sound:
Music
Lyrics Composer:
Ennio Neri; Luciano Luigi Martelli
Music Composer:
Gino Simi
Instruments:
Tenor; Conductor; Orchestra; Choir
Record Language:
Italian
Date:
1935 ?
Identifier:
L 5076
Rights:
metadata-only record, please check the publication for rights
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). This song was launched a few months before the start of the war and can be considered as propaganda material designed to stimulate the consent and mobilisation of the Italian people.
Online Resources:
http://id.sbn.it/bid/DDS0209765
Performers:
Miscel Virgilio Ripa Orchestra Durium
Lyrics by:
Ennio Neri Luciano Luigi Martelli
Music by:
Gino Simi
Instruments:
Tenor Conductor Orchestra Choir
Sound Type:
Music
Recording Language:
Italian
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Africanella", REDIRE Database, Bonn Center for Digital Humanities (BCDH)
Reference Link:
http://localhost:4000/items/demo_1733.html
Rights
Rights:
metadata-only record, please check the publication for rights