L.I.A.N.A.S. - Looking at Italian Africa Nature, Animals and Safari

forthcoming

The overarching objective of the L.I.A.N.A.S. project is to provide the first in-depth analysis of the colonial and post-colonial relationship between Italy and the African landscape, namely the practice of big-game hunting and safaris as means of subjugating, and manipulating the colonial territory and nature. The exploitation of nature for propagandistic and economic purposes was a central aspect of the imperial rhetoric of European colonial powers. Nonetheless, a comprehensive examination of the ecological impact of Italian colonialism is still missing. The analysis will focus not only on the period of formal occupation of Italy's African colonies (1882-1941) but also on the subsequent phase, extending until the early 1970s, highlighting the long-term legacies in the ways of relating to African nature. Focusing on a repertoire of cultural products such as books, documentary films, and natural history collections dedicated to big game hunting trophies from Italy's Horn of Africa colonies (Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia), the project aims to 1) reconstruct the tropes and discourses surrounding African animals created during the Fascist period, 2) highlight the long-term legacies of this way of viewing African nature in cultural products and museum displays, and 3) deconstruct these practices and engage the public as an integral part of the decolonization initiative. The three-year project will bring Dr. Falcucci to the University of Houston, the University of Florence, and, during a secondment, to the Natural History Museum of Addis Ababa. Falcucci, who has international experience in Italy, France, Belgium, the UK, and Spain, is confident that the Action will profoundly impact her career. She will acquire knowledge in the field of Environmental Studies from a global perspective and new Public History skills, disseminating results among specialists and a wider audience, enabling her to become a leading scholar in the field of Cultural History and Colonial History.