Das Ihr im Wir

Pier Paolo Pasolinis und Dacia Marainis Reisen nach Afrika als „scambio di corpi”

Abstract

This article analyses the manifestation of the self-image and the perception of the ‘other’ in two Italian intellectuals’ literary works about Africa. It examines the portrayal of the ‘other’ based on poems and political writing by Pier Paolo Pasolini, travelogues by Dacia Maraini as well as their biographical and sociocultural background before reflecting it in the context of orientalism, exotism and othering.

The introduction, establishing a link to the Covid-19-pandemic and current debates on racism, is followed by a cultural science-based analysis of Pasolini’s concept of the archaic which is vital for the understanding of his utopian and nostalgic image of Africa. The second part of the article emphasizes that, despite her efforts for objectivity, Maraini’s depiction of the African countries she travelled to is characterized by her socialisation and moral conceptions. Both Pasolini and Maraini – willingly or not – are impacted by a certain eurocentrism they cannot escape due to their ‘occidental’ perspectives.