Abstract: The chapter illustrates the educational policy in the Horn of Africa during Italian colonization. It shows how the aim was to eliminate prominent and educated natives who were seen as potential inciters of rebellion against Italian rule. Colonization systematically hindered the development of national cultures, imposing the Italian language as the official language and limiting the duration of education to three or four years. For this reason, no attention was paid to the progress of schooling, which was left in the hands of clerics, soldiers, and local teachers. In connection to this process of Italianization and linguistic repression, Fascist propaganda was regularly disseminated in school textbooks.

Résumé : Ce chapitre traite de la politique éducative menée dans la Corne de l’Afrique pendant la colonisation italienne. On montre comment il s’agissait d’éliminer les autochtones éminents et instruits, considérés comme des incitateurs potentiels à la rébellion contre la domination italienne. La colonisation a systématiquement entravé le développement des cultures nationales, imposant la langue italienne comme langue officielle et limitant la durée de l’enseignement à trois ou quatre ans. Pour cette raison, on n’accordait aucune attention aux progrès de la scolarisation, laissée entre les mains des religieux, des soldats et des enseignants locaux. Liée à ce processus d’italianisation et de répression linguistique, la propagande fasciste était diffusée de manière récurrente dans les manuels scolaires.

Keywords: Educational policy. Horn of Africa. Italian language. Italian colonization. Fascist propaganda. Textbooks.

Mots-clés: Politique éducative. Corne de l’Afrique. Langue italienne. Colonisation italienne. Propagande fasciste. Manuels scolaires.

Introduction

According to Palermo, colonial experience is an important aspect of Italian linguistic history because it allows us to observe the new (but actually old) ways of spreading Italian abroad. As Bruni points out, it is surprising that a part of Italian history, such as the linguistic colonial experience, has gone quite unnoticed. Labanca writes in the same vein, observing that it would be a mistake to interpret the history of Italian colonization without considering its linguistic aspects. For Vedovelli, it would be impossible to understand and interpret the trends of linguistic history without analyzing its roots. On the basis of these observations, I will illustrate in this study the language teaching and educational policy during Italian colonization in the Horn of Africa.