Discussion: Adua by (pp. 1-85)

Reading and Research Questions: Adua by Igiaba Scego, pp. 1-85 Instructions: Below are some questions and research points for you to take note of. They are designed to help you with your note taking while you read and reflect on the novel, and they are also designed to help set critical thinking expectations that will be evaluated in your corresponding reflection and essay assignments. However, they are not designed to overwhelm you, so you do not need to turn this in. Use these question to preview your reading assignment and guide your annotations and note-taking as you read the selection.

“Talking-To” Chapters

1. As you read the “Talking-To” chapters, consider how these chapters parallel "Girl" in both theme and tone. Also, consider the speaker and the dynamics of the father-daughter relationship. How is the final "Talking-To" chapter different from the others? What questions about the story comes to mind while reading through all the "Talking-To" chapters?

2. Chapter 8 discusses Adua’s name. Research “The Battle of Adua (Adwa).” Where did it take place? What was the result and why was this result particularly important for the continent of Africa?

3. In Chapter 10, you are introduced to Adua’s stepmother. Do you think that she is the speaker in some of the “Talking-To” chapters? Why or Why not? Which chapters do you think she may be speaking instead of Zoppe?

4. In Chapter 14, what does Adua’s photo novel symbolize to Zoppe? 5. In Chapter 17, how does Zoppe describe women who do not go thorough gudniika

(infibulation)? What was Adua’s mother’s point of view regarding infibulation?

“Zoppe” Chapters

1. Research Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism. What were Mussolini’s views on race and ethnicity? When did these views change? What “race” laws did he institute and when?

2. Read about the complex history of colonization in Somalia: https://hj2009per2somalia.weebly.com/colonization.html

3. Admits racial violence at the hands of the fascist military police and brutal treatment in Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prison, Zoppe drifts in and out of consciousness, alternating between visions and past memories. Explain why Zoppe came to Rome. What were his desires and motivations?

4. Why does Zoppe find comfort in the vision of the father (Davide) and daughter (Emanuela), and later on the mother (Rebecca)?

5. What is Zoppe’s real name? What does his nickname mean? 6. Research Scientific Racism and Nordicism. Why would Romagnolo show his red hair off

“like a trophy”? How is Zoppe’s hair treated? 7. Why did Zoppe get arrested? 8. When Zoppe is in prison, he recalls his father, Haji Safar, talking about a “second soul.”

What does he mean by this, and why does he say Zoppe does not have one? 9. How did Zoppe become a soothsayer? Describe the scene with Aunt Bibi and the goat. How

old was Zoppe at this time? 10. How did Zoppe get out of jail?

11. Research the 2nd Italo-Abyssinian war. (Abyssinia is another name for Ethiopia.) When and where did it take place? How was Somalia involved in this war?

12. Describe Zoppe’s exchange with the vision of Rebecca. Why would her husband consider becoming a fascist? What is Zoppe’s response?

13. Count Celestino Anselmi has Zoppe wear a blue turban. Consider the symbolism this object carries throughout the novel.

14. Consider how Count Anselmi is described, both in term of his obsession with the British Empire, and also how he is described physically. Why would he die his hair blonde?

“Adua” Chapters

1. Look on Google maps to locate where Somaila is, and also look up Piazza della Minerva in Rome, Italy and the elephant statue with the obelisk. Why does Adua choose to talk to a little figurine of this statue?

2. Who is her husband? What is his experience? Why does Adua refer to her husband as “Made in Lampedusa” and “Titanic”? Describe the dynamics of their relationship.

3. Where and in what decade did Adua and her older sister Malika meet their father? How old do you think Adua, Malika, and Zoppe were? Who took care of Adua and her sister before then?

4. How did the sisters react to meeting their father and having to move to Magalo? What was “my baptism” according to Adua, and how did she respond to it?

5. How did Adua’s mother die? When did Zoppe remarry, and to who? 6. Zoppe tells Hajiedda Fardosa, “You’ll have to civilize them,” referring to Adua and Malika.

“They’re savages. Especially the taller one.” Consider Zoppe’s words, and consider Jamiaca Kincaid’s words discussing the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized (from discussion questions on the story “Girl.” In what ways does this same dynamic play out between Zoppe and Adua? In what ways can we see this dynamic between Adua and her husband, “Titanic”?

7. When was the move theater built in Magalo, and for what purposes? Who restored the theater in Magalo and when? How did this man accumulate wealth throughout his life?

8. What made Adua dream of moving to Rome? 9. How does Zoppe’s disposition to Italy differ from Adua’s and why? Describe the

differences between Adua’s Magalo (1960s) and Zoppe’s Magalo (1930s). In what ways is the colonial history of Magalo both present and lost? What affect did this presence in Magalo have on Adua, and on other women and girls in society?

10. Consider the experience of a young girl who grew up in a nomadic culture in the Somali countryside watching a movie in the theaters for the first time. How did Adua react to this experience?

11. How does Adua compare herself to Ginevera, Mario, and Sultana? 12. Look up and watch a few minutes of a movie with Maciste. How did Adua’s reception of

the film (and Magalo) change as the movie progressed from beginning to end? 13. Why did Titanic and Adua get in a fight? What happened during the fight? What emotions

were both dealing with? 14. The previous Adua chapter (13) discussed her first exposure to a movie. And this one

(Chapter 16) describes her appearance in one. Imagine/predict how her life played out from a young child in Magalo to a teenager in Rome.