''Orzowei'' is a 1955

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

writer Alberto Manzi. It is an anti-

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

educational story set in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

. Adaptations of the novel include a movie (''Orzowei, il figlio della savana'', 1976) and a popular TV series (1977).

Plot

Isa is a white boy who is abandoned in the jungle somewhere in Southern Africa. He is found and adopted by an old couple of a

Swazi Swazi may refer to: * Swazi people, a people of southeastern Africa * Swazi language * Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked count ...

tribe. Isa is somewhat isolated in the tribe because of his white skin, and gets nicknamed "Orzowei", "the foundling"; his main antagonist is Mesei, the chief's son. Also because of his white skin, Isa is not accepted in the warrior society, despite successfully completing a painful initiation rite. He ultimately chooses to leave the village, and later joins a tribe of

Bushmen The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the Indigenous peoples of Africa, oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged fro ...

. The wise Bushman Pao accepts him in his family and teaches him love and respect for all people, independent of colour. When the Swazi and Bushmen get on a war footing, Pao's teachings help Isa put an end to the conflict, thereby beating his all-time enemy Mesei.

Adaptation

The novel was first adapted as a movie in a 1976 Italian/German production entitled ''Orzowei, il figlio della savana'' ("Orzowei, Son of the Savannah"). In 1977, the TV series ' was aired on

RAI 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...

(Italy's primary national television) featuring

Peter Marshall Peter Marshall may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Marshall (entertainer) (1926–2024), American game show host of ''The Hollywood Squares'', 1966–1981 * Peter Marshall (author, born 1939) (1939–1972), British novelist whose works include ' ...

as Orzowei. The TV series was very popular, partly due to a very successful soundtrack by

Oliver Onions George Oliver Onions (13 November 1873 – 9 April 1961), who published under the name Oliver Onions, was an English writer of short stories and novels. He wrote in various genres, but is perhaps best remembered for his ghost stories, notably ...

. Davide Fabbri provided a drawn cover for an edition of the book published in June 1984.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1955 Italian novels Novels set in Africa Italian novels adapted into television shows