Zoppe: black identity and masculinity in Adua, by Igiaba Scego

Abstract

The present paper intends to investigate the construction of black identity and masculinity of the character Zoppe, father of the character Adua from the homonymous novel. Zoppe serves as translator and interpreter for Count Anselmi in the context of the 1930s, shortly before the Italian invasion of
Ethiopia. This study will adopt as a theoretical framework the intellectuals who thought about identity (WOODWARD, 2014), especially black racial identity and masculinity (KILOMBA, 2019; FANON, 2020; FAUSTINO, 2014; hooks, 2019). We observe through the analysis of what Zoppe says about himself and how they talk about him, how colonialism and racism operate to dehumanize racialized subjects. The fact that Zoppe was unable to grieve the loss of his beloved Asha corroborates the results of this study, which indicate that colonialism produces brutish subjectivities, not allowing the colonized to delve into their own hells (FANON, 2020).