ARER · Aesthetic and Anthropological Representations as Evidence of Racism: from Italian Unification (1861) to the Fall of Fascism (1943)
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-11-01 → 2022-10-31
- EU contribution
- €175,673
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
Aesthetic and Anthropological Representations as Evidence of Racism: from Italian Unification (1861) to the Fall of Fascism (1943)
My research project entitled Aesthetic and Anthropological Representations as Evidence of Racism: from Italian Unification (1861) to the Fall of Fascism (1943) (ARER) aimed to study the role of visual and material culture in the formation of an African racial identity during Italy’s national unification and its colonial conquests up to the fall of fascism. The overall objective consists of understanding how material and visual representations of the body reify theories such as identity and race–which are vague and inconsistent–into tangible and operative ontologies, in the scientific field as well as in the collective imaginary. The main goal of my project is to have an impact on society. If the first racial judgment is made through the way we look at Others, the deconstruction of the notion of race will necessarily require an expertise in visual and material studies. This is precisely what my work seeks to develop. Thus, my project aims to have not only an impact on the scientific community but a wider visibility that can raise awareness on the issue of race participating in the construction of a more egalitarian community.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This research project entitled Aesthetic and Anthropological Representations as Evidence of Racism: from Italian Unification (1861) to the Fall of Fascism (1943) (ARER) aims to study the role of visual and material culture in the formation of an African racial identity during Italy’s national unification and its colonial conquests up to the fall of fascism. Italian colonialism, later than that of its French and English neighbours, coincided with the constitution of the nation-state, and it was imperative that its first campaigns, exclusively turned towards Africa, reinforce patriotic sentiment and inscribe Italy among the colonial powers. The figure of the Italian was thus invented progressively by way of contrast to African populations, and through the exaltation of its Roman and Etruscan origins, in order to legitimate its vocation to conquer and ‘civilize’ the world. Situated at the crossroads of art, history and anthropology, the theoretical results of my study have for an ambition to help question the contemporary resurgence of racism and xenophobia in a Europe affected by a migration crisis and the rise of populism.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE · FiesoleCoordinatorItaly
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union