Question

2. The professionalization of history in Ethiopia was a post-colonial phenomenon.

Answer 1

Answer:

The Italian “occupation" of Ethiopia during Fascism lasted from 1935‑36 to 1941, while Italian rule in the Horn of Africa (Eritrea and Somalia) was much longer (1880s‑1940s). Relationships between Italian men and Northeast African women in the Horn were characterized by the practice of colonial concubinage (so‑called madamato), the pattern, system and subtle pervasiveness of which somehow persisted in Ethiopia even after the Italian withdrawal. Gender relations during the Italian occupation had, and still have, a considerable impact on Ethiopian society. Ethiopian‑Italians, born during and after World War II, relate family stories which reestablish the continuity between colonial and postcolonial Ethiopia. Although the social integration of Ethiopian‑Italians in Ethiopia has improved during the past decades, the memory of the Italian occupation is still alive and the vocabulary commonly used to designate Ethiopian‑Italians is still derogatory.