Italy is like Canada? Linking decolonial experiences [video]

Recent governments in New Brunswick, including the recently-elected Holt government,  have declared that they will not change the name of the St. John River to the Wolastoq, despite calls by Wolastoqey Elders and others to decolonize the name of the river.

Moves such as the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico by U.S. President, have once again called attention to the importance of names in nations that have been, and remain, colonial powers.

University of New Brunswick French professor Chiara Falangola gave a talk on March 14 at the university in Fredericton, that explained the colonial situation in Italy, which faces similar issues of names.

Falangola’s talk was titled: “Decolonizing Rome: Postcolonial Female Gaze and Critical Odonomastic.” Odonomastic is the study of names.

Falangola chose to showcase an important book called Rome Denied. Postcolonial Itineraries in the City from 2014. This book, by Somali-Italian author Igiaba Scego and Italian photographer Rino Bianchi, uses photography to expose decolonial mapping, making it part of the movement critical of place names.

Like many European countries, modern Italy was a colonial empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, the country occupied territories in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Libya, to name a few.

Falangola herself is a product of this imperialism. She is of mixed Italian origin, having Eritrean ancestors, she declared in her talk.

Like many contemporary Italians, for a long time, she suffered from “colonial amnesia” or “colonial oblivion” which is promoted by the Italian government who positions itself as the “rightful custodian” of the power to name things.

In her talk, Falangola describes how this activism in Italy is denouncing the myth of Italian as “decent people.” Falangola chose to discuss the book by Scego and Bianchi as an example of this activism which searches to “debunk the colonial myth” and “disclose the reality of the Italian colonial past,” she said.

According to Falangola, over 700,000 deaths took place during this colonial period which included pogroms (racist massacres), internment camps, the use of chemical weapons, forced concubinage and apartheid in various colonies.

In her talk, Falangola examined some of the photographs from the book. The decolonized female subjects of the photos, all Italians of mixed race, are posed in “colonial” streets, bridges, and plazas, named after famous colonial battles, territories or generals. The photos impose the subjects’ implicitly critical gaze on the cityscape and on the spectator.

The reappropriation of the space by these women is reminiscent of many attempts made to decolonize public spaces, such as decapitating sculptures of historic figures by activists in Canada and renaming buildings named after slave owners in Fredericton.

Falangola’s Feminist Lunch talk was organized by the UNB/STU University Women’s Centre in Fredericton, in collaboration with a variety of other groups.

Sophie M. Lavoie is a member of the NB Media Co-op’s editorial board and a Board member of the UNB/STU University Women’s Centre.

Videography by Livia Steeves. Video editing by David Gordon Koch. 

This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).