Constructing Jewish Otherness in the Italian Empire: The Case of Colonial Guidebooks

This article looks at how Jewish groups were portrayed in Italian colonial guidebooks of the 1920s and 1930s. More than simple travel aids, these publications reflected and shaped the ways colonial society imagined its subjects. The article compares the depictions of Jews with those of other ethnic and religious groups, paying attention to the stereotypes employed, the construction of ethnic identities and the imprint of colonial and Fascist ideology. The article asks three main questions: how were Jewish groups represented in the colonies? In what ways was their ‘otherness’ articulated? And how did these representations evolve in step with Fascist imperial policy and antisemitism? By following these dynamics across both European and African colonies, the article highlights the entanglements of colonialism and antisemitism in Italy’s imperial project.