We are tomorrow Literatur

1914 ‒ 1941: Literary Border Crossing

In 1914 the whole African continent with the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia was under foreign rule by the Europeans. How was Italian colonialism conceived in literature? The first novel, The Conscript, by Ethiopian author Gebreyesus Hailu (1906-1993) is set during World War I; it was written in 1927, published in Tigrinya for the first time in 1950 and released in English translation in 2013. It is the story of a young Eritrean mercenary fighting for the Italians against the Libyan anti-colonial liberation movement, who becomes aware of the absurdity of his position. On the other hand the second novel, Maaza Mengiste’s The Shadow King (forthcoming, 2014) is set during the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1941).