Storie ‘vere’ ed eroine dei romanzi. Rappresentare la Somalia in 'Ilaria Alpi. La ragazza che voleva raccontare l’inferno' e 'Non dirmi che hai paura'

Simone Brioni

doi:10.18352/incontri.10150

Abstract

‘True’ Stories and Heroines in Novels: The Representation of Somalia in Ilaria Alpi: The Young Woman Who Wanted to Narrate Hell and Don’t Tell Me You Are Afraid This article analyses Gigliola Alvisi’s Ilaria Alpi: La ragazza che voleva raccontare l’inferno [ Ilaria Alpi: The Young Woman Who Wanted to Narrate the Hell ] (2014) and Giuseppe Catozzella’s Non dirmi che hai paura [ Don’t Tell Me You Are Afraid ] (2014), two novels that deal with two recent events in Somali and Italian history, the killing of the journalist Ilaria Alpi in Mogadishu in 1994 and the death of Samia Yosuf Omar while she was trying to reach the Italian shores from Libya by boat. Alvisi’s text is analysed in comparison with other fictional and journalistic representations of Ilaria Alpi, while Non dirmi che hai paura is examined through what Catozzella considers the two constitutive dimensions of the novel: documentation and identification. Drawing on Stefano Jossa’s reflections on the construction of literary heroes, the article challenges Alvisi’s and Catozzella’s claims that they represent ‘true stories’. The article also argues that the main characters of these literary works are portrayed as heroines and role models for the emancipation of Muslim women.

Highlights

SUMMARY ‘True’ Stories and Heroines in Novels: The Representation of Somalia in Ilaria Alpi: The Young Woman Who Wanted to Narrate Hell and Don’t Tell Me You Are Afraid
This article analyses Gigliola Alvisi’s Ilaria Alpi: La ragazza che voleva raccontare l’inferno [Ilaria Alpi: The Young Woman Who Wanted to Narrate the Hell] (2014) and Giuseppe Catozzella’s Non dirmi che hai paura [Don’t Tell Me You Are Afraid] (2014), two novels that deal with two recent events in Somali and Italian history, the killing of the journalist Ilaria Alpi in Mogadishu in 1994 and the death of Samia Yosuf Omar while she was trying to reach the Italian shores from Libya by boat
Alvisi’s text is analysed in comparison with other fictional and journalistic representations of Ilaria Alpi, while Non dirmi che hai paura is examined through what Catozzella considers the two constitutive dimensions of the novel: documentation and identification

Summary

Introduction

Lo storico Colin Tatz ha dimostrato che gli aborigeni australiani poterono partecipare alle attività sportive della nazione mezzo secolo prima che fossero garantiti loro i diritti come cittadini.[102] Secondo Lenskyj, una simile attitudine alimentata dal ‘belief in the redemptive and symbolic importance of Olympic sport’ può essere riconosciuta ai nostri giorni nella ‘campaign to include more women from Muslim countries’.103 Se da un lato – e forse in maniera acritica – si può vedere nella presenza di Samia alle Olimpiadi un modo per generare attenzione circa la guerra civile che sta devastando la Somalia dal 1991, dall’altro non si può non ravvisare nella sua partecipazione una celebrazione dell’economia neoliberista globalizzata, capace di includere anche ‘gli ultimi’ nei suoi rituali.

Results

Conclusion