Description
This paper concerns the histories of mobility and movement in the Mediterranean through music. It aims to address musical exchanges between Italians and Tunisians that followed French occupation (1881) and between Italians and Egyptians developed during Italian migrations (1920s). Firstly, through several fieldworks in Tunis (2015-2017) and Marseille (2023), and archival research, focusing on the Italian family of musical instruments seller - the Scotto (1927-1960s) – and its interaction with Tunisian instrument makers such as the Bellasfar family (1930- now), I will show how Italians contributed significantly to an exchange of knowledge, skills and craftsmanship during the protectorate era. Secondly, I will focus on Teresa De Rogatis (1893-1979), Neapolitan composer and musician who lived in Egypt for more than forty years (1921-1963) and explore how Italian music became a principal component of élite entertainment in Cairo. What can we learn by re-examining Italy’s early twentieth century music history, as an example of Europe articulated in an Arab-Ottoman/British imperial context? By exploring the phenomenon of collective memory as it is revealed through musical activities, this paper investigates new complex networks of inter-cultural and intra-cultural exchanges in the Mediterranean that are not defined by postcolonial/global boundaries.
| IMPORTANT | YES, I confirm I have read it. |
|---|
