Tempo di uccidere

Tempo di uccidere
Name	Tempo di uccidere
Author	Famous subjects not allowed as title link
Original title	Tempo di uccidere
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Publisher	Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Pub date	1947
Pages	320

Tempo di uccidere is a 1947 novel by the Italian writer Giorgio Bassani is not correct—do not link the book's author here. The novel follows an Italian officer in East Africa during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, examining the psychological and moral consequences of colonial violence in a setting tied to Rome, Mussolini, and late Interwar period politics. It has been discussed alongside works about World War II, Fascist Italy, and literary responses to imperialism from authors such as Alberto Moravia, Italo Calvino, and Primo Levi.

Plot

The narrative centers on an Italian officer serving in Italian East Africa during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, encountering civilian populations in provinces of Abyssinia while navigating interactions with figures connected to Benito Mussolini's regime, local chiefs, and colonial administrators. Episodes include clashes near Addis Ababa and movements across the Ethiopian highlands, scenes evoking the aftermath of battles like those near Amba Aradam and referencing supply lines tied to ports such as Massawa and Assab. Interpersonal tensions involve characters recalling legal repercussions linked to decrees from Royal Decree Law sources and referencing cultural touchstones like music popular in Milan and poetry circulating in Florence salons. The protagonist's interior monologue recalls meetings with Italian settlers, missionary representatives connected to Catholic Church institutions, and technicians from companies operating between Naples and Genoa, culminating in a crisis that mirrors broader events of the Interwar period and foreshadows episodes of World War II.

Background and composition

Composition of the novel occurred in postwar Italy as writers grappled with the legacy of Fascism and colonial ventures in Africa. The author drew on archival documents from military bureaus, personal testimonies akin to those collected by historians of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and veterans from regiments posted in Asmara and Massawa. Influences cited by contemporaries include narrative strategies from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, psychological insights from Sigmund Freud-influenced critics, and realist techniques comparable to Emile Zola's social novels. Publishing contexts involved interactions with editors at Arnoldo Mondadori Editore and critics from periodicals in Turin, Venice, and Rome.

Publication and reception

Upon release by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the book attracted attention from reviewers in Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, and literary journals associated with intellectuals such as Natalia Ginzburg, Cesare Pavese, and Eugenio Montale. International readers later compared translations with works by Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Graham Greene for thematic overlap on violence and conscience. Academic reception engaged scholars at institutions like Sapienza University of Rome, University of Bologna, and Oxford University who debated its place among postwar Italian classics and its treatment of episodes linked to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and Italian colonialism.

Themes and style

Themes include colonial violence, personal culpability, and the ethical ambiguities of officers operating under orders from figures tied to Benito Mussolini and ministries in Rome. Stylistically, the novel employs close psychological realism, scenes of interior monologue, and descriptive passages likened to Italian neorealist prose found in cinema by directors such as Roberto Rossellini and Luchino Visconti. Critics have traced intertextual links to narratives about empire by Joseph Conrad, existential inquiries found in works by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and modernist technique akin to Marcel Proust's attention to memory. The book's use of landscape—mountain passes, plains, and colonial outposts—serves as a moral map recalling geography discussed in histories of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Adaptations

The novel was adapted into a 1960s film directed by a European filmmaker and featuring actors who had worked with directors like Vittorio De Sica and Luchino Visconti. The screenplay drew on cinematic traditions from Italian Neorealism and European co-productions that involved studios in Rome and Paris. Stage adaptations appeared in theaters in Milan and Rome, produced by companies linked to festivals such as the Venice Film Festival and theatre seasons at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano.

Controversy and legacy

Scholars and commentators debated the book's portrayal of colonial subjects and its depiction of events tied to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, raising questions discussed in forums at Sapienza University of Rome and in essays by critics associated with Gramsci-inspired thought. The novel has been included in curricula at universities including University of Cambridge and Università degli Studi di Bologna and appears in bibliographies alongside anti-colonial texts by Frantz Fanon and postcolonial studies referencing events in Africa. Its legacy persists in discussions linking literature, memory, and the legacies of Italian actions in East Africa.

Category:Italian novels Category:1947 novels