Abstract

Carovane del Tigrai is the title of a song that, together with similar compositions, offers several elements for a reflection on the construction of the exotic through sonic and musical imagery in the context of the Ethiopian invasion. The songs will be contextualized within Italian popular music of the 1930s, and the transmedial dimension of musical pieces – that reached a wide public through records, performances, radio broadcasts and journalistic texts – will be highlighted. Afterwards, the main lyrical and musical features will be analysed, in order to unfold the sonic representation of the exotic and its functioning within the fascist colonial project. Finally, a later phase will be presented, in which the development of a pseudo-ethnographic approach in the construction of the musical exotic can be identified in records, radio and books