Uchronic and (post)colonial football: spectres of history and contemporaneity in “L’inattesa piega degli eventi” by Enrico Brizzi

Abstract

Enrico Brizzi’s “L’inattesa piega degli eventi” (The unexpected turn of events) addresses the issue of Italy’s colonial and fascist past through the story of a journalist who is sent to cover the football series in the so-called Associated Republic of East Africa in the alternate 1960s. This article aims to show how the author uses both the alternate history subgenre and the cultural power of football to talk about Italy’s colonial past as well as its contemporary social problems. It analyses how the game of football, presented as an instrument of colonial oppression, also becomes a way to express dissent and rebellion. An attempt is then made to show how the novel polemises with a traditional positive view of fascist Italy prevalent in Italian alternate history narratives. An attempt is also made to demonstrate the similarities between the alternative past and the present to which the novel alludes.