Politiche della razza all'opera. L'Aida in Egitto come caso studio
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13136/2281-4582/2015.i6.297Abstract
In this article I emphasize the key-role played by the representation of a racial hierarchy in Aida by Giuseppe Verdi, showing how, in its fortunate Egyptian re-edition, this Opera is still represented as a perpetual mise en scène of a racial stereotype. After tracing the genesis of Aida I explain how, since its première in Cairo in 1871, this magnificent opera has become representative of a whole set of modern symbolic values for the Egyptian ruling élite, being able of representing their own colonial project on Sudan on the one side, and evoking - through the clashes between Egyptians and Ethiopians - a modern extra-European and colonial context on the other. Although I move from Said's understanding of Aida as "aesthetic of separation", I show how the character of Aida herself escapes from the rigid color division mainly proposed in the scene by virtue of her liminal nature. The last part of my article shows some examples of a series of highly racialized scenes, thanks to a selection of photos by the Cairo Opera House Archives (1999 - 2011).
References
Abū Ġazāla, ‘Abbās. ‘Abqariyya Ūbīrā ‘Āida, al-markaz al-ṯaqāfa al-qawmī. Il Cairo: Dār al- Ūbīrā al-miṣriyya, 2011.
Abu Loghod, Janet C. Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.
Andre, Naomi, Karen M. Bryan ed Eric Saylor. “Introduction: Representing Blackness on to the Operatic Stage.” Blackness in Opera. A cura di Naomi Andre, Karen M. Bryan e Eric Saylor. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012. 1-10.
Badawī, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá. Modern Arabic Drama in Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Bergeron, Katherine. “Verdi’s Egyptian spectacle: on the colonial subject of Aida.” Cambridge Opera Journal 14 1-2 (2002): 149-159.
Bianconi, Lorenzo. Il teatro d’opera in Italia. Bologna: il Mulino, 1993.
Bush, Hans. Verdi’s Aida. The History of an Opera in Letters and Documents. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1978.
Casini, Lorenzo, Maria Elena Paniconi e Lucia Sorbera. Modernità Arabe. Nazione, narrazione e nuovi soggetti nel romanzo egiziano. Messina: Mesogea, 2012.
Colla, Elliott. Conflicted Antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian Modernity. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007.
Colombati, Claudia. “Esotismo e archeologia nell’Aida di G. Verdi.” Annali della facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell’Università di Macerata 25-26 (1992-1993): 127-172.
Corgnati, Martina. Egitto. Profilo dell’arte moderna e contemporanea dei paesi mediterranei. Messina: Mesogea, 2009.
Della Seta, Fabrizio e Arthur Groos. “'O cieli azzurri:' Exoticism and Dramatic Discourse in Aida.” Cambridge Opera Journal 3.1 (1991): 49-62.
El Shakry, Omnia. The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007.
Gauthier, Christopher e Jennifer McFarlane. “Nationalism, Racial Difference, and “Egyptian” Meaning in Verdi’s Aida.” Blackness in Opera. A cura di Naomi Andre, Karen M. Bryan ed Eric Saylor. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012. 57-77.
Guarracino, Serena. “Verdi’s Aida across the Mediterranean (and beyond).”California Italian Studies Journal, 1.1 (2010). http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9tj7h4wv. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
Guilford, Gwinn. “It’s time to stop using “exoticism” as an excuse for opera’s racism.” Quartz 23 luglio 2014.http://qz.com/237569/its-time-to-stop-using-exoticism-as-an-excuse-for-operas-racism/. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
Ingraham, Mary, Joseph K. So e Roy Moodley. Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Lent, Shawn Renée. “Seing Aida in Egypt.” http://shawnlent.com/?p=470. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
McCants, Clyde T. Verdi’s Aida: A Record of the Life of the Opera On and Off Stage. Jefferson: McFarland, 2006.
Mitchell, Timothy. Colonizing Egypt. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
Neutze, Ben. “Latonia Moore on Don Carlos, Aida on the Harbour, Blackface and race in Opera.” Daily Review 21 luglio 2015. http://dailyreview.com.au/latonia-moore-on-don-carlos-aida-on-the-harbourblackface-and-race-in-opera/27153. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
Olender, Maurice. Razza e destino. Milano: Bompiani, 2014.
Petrovich Njegosh, Tatiana. “Gli italiani sono bianchi? Per una storia culturale della linea del colore in Italia.”
Parlare di Razza. La lingua del colore tra Italia e Stati Uniti. A cura di Tatiana Petrovich Njegosh e Anna Scacchi. Verona: Ombre corte, 2012. 13-45.
Robinson, Paul. “Is Aida an Orientalist Opera?” Cambridge Opera Journal 15.2 (1993): 133-140.
Sadgrove, Philip. The Egyptian Theatre in the Nineteenth Century, 1799-1882. Il Cairo: The American University Press, 2007.
Said, Edward W. 1993. Cultura e Imperialismo. 1993. Roma: Gamberetti, 1998.
Ṣāliḥ, ‘Abdūn. ‘Aida wa-ma’iatšam‘a. ṣafḥātfī-tarīḫūbīraal-Qāhira. Il Cairo: al-hay’a al-miṣriyya al-‘āmma li-‘lkitāb, 1973.
Tommasini, Anthony. “Colorblind Casting Widens Opera’s Options.”The New York Times 21 dicembre 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/arts/music/operas-colorblind-casting-at-glimmerglass-andthe-met.html?_r=0. Visitato il 21/9/2015.
Tutti i libretti di Verdi. Introduzione e note di Luigi Baldacci. Milano: Garzanti 1975.
Abu Loghod, Janet C. Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.
Andre, Naomi, Karen M. Bryan ed Eric Saylor. “Introduction: Representing Blackness on to the Operatic Stage.” Blackness in Opera. A cura di Naomi Andre, Karen M. Bryan e Eric Saylor. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012. 1-10.
Badawī, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá. Modern Arabic Drama in Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Bergeron, Katherine. “Verdi’s Egyptian spectacle: on the colonial subject of Aida.” Cambridge Opera Journal 14 1-2 (2002): 149-159.
Bianconi, Lorenzo. Il teatro d’opera in Italia. Bologna: il Mulino, 1993.
Bush, Hans. Verdi’s Aida. The History of an Opera in Letters and Documents. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1978.
Casini, Lorenzo, Maria Elena Paniconi e Lucia Sorbera. Modernità Arabe. Nazione, narrazione e nuovi soggetti nel romanzo egiziano. Messina: Mesogea, 2012.
Colla, Elliott. Conflicted Antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian Modernity. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007.
Colombati, Claudia. “Esotismo e archeologia nell’Aida di G. Verdi.” Annali della facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell’Università di Macerata 25-26 (1992-1993): 127-172.
Corgnati, Martina. Egitto. Profilo dell’arte moderna e contemporanea dei paesi mediterranei. Messina: Mesogea, 2009.
Della Seta, Fabrizio e Arthur Groos. “'O cieli azzurri:' Exoticism and Dramatic Discourse in Aida.” Cambridge Opera Journal 3.1 (1991): 49-62.
El Shakry, Omnia. The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007.
Gauthier, Christopher e Jennifer McFarlane. “Nationalism, Racial Difference, and “Egyptian” Meaning in Verdi’s Aida.” Blackness in Opera. A cura di Naomi Andre, Karen M. Bryan ed Eric Saylor. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012. 57-77.
Guarracino, Serena. “Verdi’s Aida across the Mediterranean (and beyond).”California Italian Studies Journal, 1.1 (2010). http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9tj7h4wv. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
Guilford, Gwinn. “It’s time to stop using “exoticism” as an excuse for opera’s racism.” Quartz 23 luglio 2014.http://qz.com/237569/its-time-to-stop-using-exoticism-as-an-excuse-for-operas-racism/. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
Ingraham, Mary, Joseph K. So e Roy Moodley. Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Lent, Shawn Renée. “Seing Aida in Egypt.” http://shawnlent.com/?p=470. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
McCants, Clyde T. Verdi’s Aida: A Record of the Life of the Opera On and Off Stage. Jefferson: McFarland, 2006.
Mitchell, Timothy. Colonizing Egypt. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
Neutze, Ben. “Latonia Moore on Don Carlos, Aida on the Harbour, Blackface and race in Opera.” Daily Review 21 luglio 2015. http://dailyreview.com.au/latonia-moore-on-don-carlos-aida-on-the-harbourblackface-and-race-in-opera/27153. Visitato il 21/09/2015.
Olender, Maurice. Razza e destino. Milano: Bompiani, 2014.
Petrovich Njegosh, Tatiana. “Gli italiani sono bianchi? Per una storia culturale della linea del colore in Italia.”
Parlare di Razza. La lingua del colore tra Italia e Stati Uniti. A cura di Tatiana Petrovich Njegosh e Anna Scacchi. Verona: Ombre corte, 2012. 13-45.
Robinson, Paul. “Is Aida an Orientalist Opera?” Cambridge Opera Journal 15.2 (1993): 133-140.
Sadgrove, Philip. The Egyptian Theatre in the Nineteenth Century, 1799-1882. Il Cairo: The American University Press, 2007.
Said, Edward W. 1993. Cultura e Imperialismo. 1993. Roma: Gamberetti, 1998.
Ṣāliḥ, ‘Abdūn. ‘Aida wa-ma’iatšam‘a. ṣafḥātfī-tarīḫūbīraal-Qāhira. Il Cairo: al-hay’a al-miṣriyya al-‘āmma li-‘lkitāb, 1973.
Tommasini, Anthony. “Colorblind Casting Widens Opera’s Options.”The New York Times 21 dicembre 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/arts/music/operas-colorblind-casting-at-glimmerglass-andthe-met.html?_r=0. Visitato il 21/9/2015.
Tutti i libretti di Verdi. Introduzione e note di Luigi Baldacci. Milano: Garzanti 1975.
Downloads
Published
2015-12-01
Issue
Section
Articles: Special Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Maria Elena Paniconi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Iperstoria is an Open Access journal.- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 BY-NC License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of their work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. We require authors to inform us of any instances of re-publication.
