‎Isabella Abbonizio‎
‎Music and Colonialism in Fascist Italy. Identity, Propaganda, and Ethnographic Representation‎

‎, Brepols, 2026 Hardback, Pages: 292, Size:210 x 270 mm, Illustrations:39 b/w, 8 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503624686.‎

Reference : 70492

‎Summary This book offers the first comprehensive investigation of the role of music within the context of Italian imperial expansion in Africa, with a particular focus on the Fascist period. While Italy's colonial project spanned approximately sixty years, it was during the final decades - under Mussolini's regime - that music emerged as a subtle yet potent instrument of propaganda. Despite its importance, the intersection of Italian music and colonial politics has remained critically underexplored, often eclipsed by postwar narratives that sought to deny or obscure cultural complicity. Drawing on archival sources, colonial newspapers, Italian and international press, published and unpublished scores, and personal accounts, the book examines four domains of entanglement between music and imperial ideology: the projection of Italian cultural identity in Libya through opera houses and concert programming; the colonial staging of Arab musical and dance traditions to satisfy orientalist appetites; the overlooked field of Italian musical ethnography in colonial settings, marked by flawed methodology and rare sonic documentation; and the creation of propagandistic works endorsing imperial ambitions. Special attention is given to Libya under Governor Italo Balbo, including Radio Tripoli's role in circulating local music, and to compositions by Adriano Lualdi and Alfredo Casella that engaged with imperial themes. These case studies show how music was mobilized to affirm nationalism, legitimize domination, and shape perceptions of the Other. By reintegrating music into the historiography of Italian colonialism, this study reclaims a neglected dimension of twentieth-century culture, challenging enduring silences in both musicological and postcolonial scholarship. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Gianpaolo Chiriac Preface Chapter One. Introduction Chapter Two. Music and Cultural Hegemony in Libya: Theatres as Instruments of Empire Introduction Italian Colonialism in Libya in Context The Politics of Cultural Life in Colonial Libya Cultural Institutions in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica Modernity and Local Traditions: The Music Programming of Radio Tripoli Chapter Three. Musical Ethnography and Colonial Discourse Introduction Early Colonial Musical Ethnography and its Later Dissemination Colonial Knowledge and Musical Ethnography during the Fascist Period Case Studies: Key Figures and Contributions Sonic Representations of the Other: Sound Collection and the Display of Musical Traditions from the Overseas Territories Chapter Four. Italian Composers and Imperial Propaganda: Between Artistic Autonomy and Political Control Introduction Awards and Competitions The 'Spontaneous' Response of Composers Colonial Narratives on Stage Aural Traces of Italian Colonialism in Postcolonial Italy Epilogue Bibliography Index of Names‎