The importance of self-definition: An interview with Djarah Kan

Abstract

ABSTRACT This interview with Djarah Kan was conducted via email during May and June 2022. Djarah Kan discusses the importance of self-definition as a political act and highlights the power dynamics connected to the process of naming. Starting from her book Ladri di denti (Tooth Thieves), her short story “Il mio nome” (My Name) (published in the anthology Future), and some articles published in Italian journals and magazines, Kan addresses the issue of immigration, highlights the close connection between racism and sexism in the Italian cultural debate, and questions the idea of “universal sisterhood”. She also emphasizes the importance of knowing the past (and, in particular, Italy’s colonial past) in order to decolonize the present and build a more just future, discusses the meaning that white privilege takes on for her, and speaks about the limits and potential of social media as platforms that enable the creation of spaces of self-representation.