Tra parole e immagini

Abstract

In this essay I analyse the different meanings of travelling in the writing of Rosalia Bossiner, who spent three years in Eritrea, from 1893 to 1896, following her husband there as he took part in the military campaigns to colonise Eritea. In particular I focus on the relation between writing and pictures in her autobiography, Tre anni in Eritrea, since Bossiner was also a photographer; despite photography’s seeming ability to lend objectivity to her writing, I argue that in the colonial context what is depicted by the photographer and especially what is left out of the camera is meaningful and shows the power imbalance in the relationship between the one who takes the photos and her/his object.