A Colonial Eye on Egypt: Ungaretti’s Writing for Gazzetta del Popolo, 1931

Abstract

This article considers the largely forgotten inter-war journalistic career of celebrated poet Giuseppe Ungaretti through his contribution to the culture pages of Turin’s Gazzetta del Popolo. His 1931 articles on Egypt are perhaps the most complex of all his prose output, representing a semi-autobiographical revisiting of his birthplace. Ungaretti’s articles are considered within their historical context and the discourses of italianità, colonial and cultural expansionism are considered. Challenging the common perception of Ungaretti as a politically naive poet, this article instead shows him to be an engaged commentator on the society, culture and politics of the ventennio. It demonstrates how his support of Fascism and cultural expansionism under the regime clashed with his cosmopolitan tendencies, and revisits a long-forgotten aspect of his literary career.