Book
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
The Black Body
-
Anna Maria Gehnyei (Karima 2G)
-
Translated by:
Eilis Kierans
-
Preface by:
Igiaba Scego
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
In her memoir, Anna Maria Gehnyei, better known as singer, rapper, and producer Karima 2G, reveals the challenges she faced as the child of Liberian immigrants, born and raised in Rome but perpetually viewed by her fellow Italians as a foreigner.
The daughter of the first Kpelle man to ever leave his native village and emigrate to Europe, Anna is proud of her heritage but only knows Liberia as a mystical, faraway land that appears in her parents’ stories. Though Italy is the only homeland she knows, she is merely classed as a resident, not a permanent citizen. At school and in the streets of Rome, she is treated to a mixture of patronizing condescension and xenophobic hostility. But Anna refuses to be bullied into mute submission, finding her voice as a performer and activist who demands recognition for Italy’s growing immigrant population.
The daughter of the first Kpelle man to ever leave his native village and emigrate to Europe, Anna is proud of her heritage but only knows Liberia as a mystical, faraway land that appears in her parents’ stories. Though Italy is the only homeland she knows, she is merely classed as a resident, not a permanent citizen. At school and in the streets of Rome, she is treated to a mixture of patronizing condescension and xenophobic hostility. But Anna refuses to be bullied into mute submission, finding her voice as a performer and activist who demands recognition for Italy’s growing immigrant population.
Author / Editor information
ANNA MARIA GEHNYEI, also known as Karima 2G, is a musician, dancer, and producer and the founder of the Black Lives Matter movement in Rome. This is her first book.
ELLIS KIERANS is an assistant professor of teaching in the Italian Department at Pennsylvania State University and co-editor of the Other Voices of Italy series. She has published widely on the works of Italian women.
SANDRA WATERS is the managing editor of Italian Quarterly and co-editor of the Other Voices of Italy series. She is the editor of The Spaces and Places of Horror and translator of Porpora Marcasciano’s AntoloGaia, among other publications.
IGIABA SCEGO is a Somali Italian writer, cultural activist, and freelance scholar. She was born in Rome to Somali parents who took refuge in Italy following a coup d'état in their native country, where her father served as foreign minister. She holds a PhD in education on postcolonial subjects, has done extensive academic work in Italy and around the world, and has a special interest in immigration and mobility. Her first memoir won Italy's prestigious Mondello Prize. Her novel The Color Line won the Premio Napoli. Scego received the International Viareggio-Répaci awards in 2021. Most recently, she was longlisted for Premio Strega for her second memoir Cassandra a Mogadiscio. Her previous novels include Beyond Babylon and Adua. She also co-edited the anthology series Africana (Feltrinelli) with Chiara Piaggio.
ELLIS KIERANS is an assistant professor of teaching in the Italian Department at Pennsylvania State University and co-editor of the Other Voices of Italy series. She has published widely on the works of Italian women.
SANDRA WATERS is the managing editor of Italian Quarterly and co-editor of the Other Voices of Italy series. She is the editor of The Spaces and Places of Horror and translator of Porpora Marcasciano’s AntoloGaia, among other publications.
IGIABA SCEGO is a Somali Italian writer, cultural activist, and freelance scholar. She was born in Rome to Somali parents who took refuge in Italy following a coup d'état in their native country, where her father served as foreign minister. She holds a PhD in education on postcolonial subjects, has done extensive academic work in Italy and around the world, and has a special interest in immigration and mobility. Her first memoir won Italy's prestigious Mondello Prize. Her novel The Color Line won the Premio Napoli. Scego received the International Viareggio-Répaci awards in 2021. Most recently, she was longlisted for Premio Strega for her second memoir Cassandra a Mogadiscio. Her previous novels include Beyond Babylon and Adua. She also co-edited the anthology series Africana (Feltrinelli) with Chiara Piaggio.
Reviews
"A rapper, dancer, and beatmaker, Anna Maria Gehnyei is also a bold and brash writer. Every line of her electrifying memoir pulses with sharp social critique. You will love it all!"— Abdourahman A. Waberi, author of In the United States of Africa
"In this important memoir, Anna Maria Gehnyei revisits the route she traveled in order to inhabit her 'Black Body' with pride and determination, in a country like Italy, where bodies like hers are constantly racialized. Through the exploration of her family memory and a journey to Liberia, Gehnyei grounds her present in the past, creating continuity between her own story and the stories of the children of the African diaspora around the world."— Caterina Romeo, author of Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literatu
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Frontmatter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
ix -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Foreword: Literary Writing in the Words of Anna Maria Gehnyei
xi -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Translators’ Note
xvii -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
1. Seven Years Old
1 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
2. African Braids
5 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
3. Snakes and Dad
11 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
4. Scars on Skin
15 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
5. If You Know Your History
21 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
6. The Secret Diary
25 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
7. All the Relatives
29 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
8. The Kpelle People
35 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
9. The Initiation
39 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
10. La Lingua Parlata
43 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
11. Mussolini the Italian
47 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
12. The Diamond Princess
53 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
13. The Power of Twins
57 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
14. The First Sister
61 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
15. Rocks in Our Shoes
67 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
16. The Sound of Drums
71 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
17. The Black Body
75 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
18. Pidgin English
79 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
19. Roma Nord
83 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
20. The 29
87 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
21. The Motivator
91 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
22. The Guy from CasaPound
95 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
23. Fingerprints
103 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
24. Federico
109 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
25. I Dream of Water
115 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
26. Silent on the Surface
119 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
27. Mom Doesn’t Want Me to Go to Liberia
123 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
28. The Journey to Liberia
131 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
29. Oceanic Currents
137 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
30. Blessings
153 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
31. Italian Citizenship
159 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
32. Karima
163 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Notes on Contributors
167 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Series List
169
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 9, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9781978841000
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781978841000
Keywords for this book
Other Voices of Italy; Italy; World Literature; World Lit; Italian lit; literature in translation; translated; italian; Black Literature; POC; BIPOC; Black body; Anna Maria Gehnyei; Eilis Kierans; Sandra Waters; Igiaba Scego; OVOI; Rutgers; Rutgers University; Rutgers University Press; biography; memoir; autobiography; race studies; ethnic studies; race; ethnicity; african studies; africa; pop culture; popular culture; women's studies; womens' studies; womens studies; gender studies; general interest; art; music; architecture; composers; musicians; african american; Black; ethnic music; social science; global black studies; world history; global studies; Karima 2G; Rome; Liberia; Liberians; Kpelle people; Kpelle; European history; european literature; europe; coming of age; afro italian
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
