Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I

Edited by Graziella Parati - Contributions by Diego Lazzarich; Cinzia Blum; Allison Scardino Belzer; Giorgio Bertellini; Michael Syrimis; Antonio Gibelli; Loretta De Franceschi and Steven E. Rowe

Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I dialogues with the variety of texts recently published to commemorate the Great War. It explores Italian socialist pacifism, the role of women during the conflict and a dominant cultural movement, Futurism, whose leader, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, glorified war and enlisted in the fight. Other soldiers created documents about the war that differ from the heroic and virile endeavor that Marinetti placed at the center of his works on war. Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I pays attention to the representations of the soldiers through an analysis of their letters, dominated by descriptions of the terrible hunger they suffered. In contrast, popular film absorbed the cultural lessons in Marinetti's writings and represented soldiers as modernist heroes in comedies and dramas. However, film did not shy away from representing cowards who could only be baffoons and fools in propaganda films. In another medium, the concern was to publish texts that would serve the fighting soldier and inform readers about ideological and historical motivations for the conflict. The publishing industry supported national propaganda efforts. Only socialism could endanger anti-war publication, but after its initial opposition to the conflict, socialists occupied a neutral position. Italian socialism still remained the only European socialist party that did not renege its pacifism in order to embrace nationalism and the war, but it was also not in favor of actions that would sabotage in the Italian war industry. ltalian socialism is only one feature of Italian culture that was dramatically changed during the war. WWI impacted every aspect of Italian and of European cultures. For instance, as an essay in Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I explores, the war industry needed workers. The solution was to bring Chinese men France to contribute in the war effort. After the war, they moved to other countries and in Milan, Italy, they founded one of the oldest Chinatowns in Europe, dramatically changing the human landscape of Italy as they later moved to other Italian cities. Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I supplies essential research articles to the construction of an inclusive portrayal of WWI and Italian culture by deepening our understanding of the transformative role it played in 20th century Italy and Europe.

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 182 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-61147-950-8 • Hardback • September 2016 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-61147-952-2 • Paperback • November 2018 • $46.99 • (£36.00)

978-1-61147-951-5 • eBook • September 2016 • $44.50 • (£35.00)

Series: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Italian Studies

Subjects: History / Military / World War I, History / Europe / Italy, History / World

Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I

Hardback

Paperback

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Summary

Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I dialogues with the variety of texts recently published to commemorate the Great War. It explores Italian socialist pacifism, the role of women during the conflict and a dominant cultural movement, Futurism, whose leader, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, glorified war and enlisted in the fight. Other soldiers created documents about the war that differ from the heroic and virile endeavor that Marinetti placed at the center of his works on war. Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I pays attention to the representations of the soldiers through an analysis of their letters, dominated by descriptions of the terrible hunger they suffered. In contrast, popular film absorbed the cultural lessons in Marinetti's writings and represented soldiers as modernist heroes in comedies and dramas. However, film did not shy away from representing cowards who could only be baffoons and fools in propaganda films. In another medium, the concern was to publish texts that would serve the fighting soldier and inform readers about ideological and historical motivations for the conflict. The publishing industry supported national propaganda efforts. Only socialism could endanger anti-war publication, but after its initial opposition to the conflict, socialists occupied a neutral position. Italian socialism still remained the only European socialist party that did not renege its pacifism in order to embrace nationalism and the war, but it was also not in favor of actions that would sabotage in the Italian war industry. ltalian socialism is only one feature of Italian culture that was dramatically changed during the war. WWI impacted every aspect of Italian and of European cultures. For instance, as an essay in Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I explores, the war industry needed workers. The solution was to bring Chinese men France to contribute in the war effort. After the war, they moved to other countries and in Milan, Italy, they founded one of the oldest Chinatowns in Europe, dramatically changing the human landscape of Italy as they later moved to other Italian cities. Italy and the Cultural Politics of World War I supplies essential research articles to the construction of an inclusive portrayal of WWI and Italian culture by deepening our understanding of the transformative role it played in 20th century Italy and Europe.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 182 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-61147-950-8 • Hardback • September 2016 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-61147-952-2 • Paperback • November 2018 • $46.99 • (£36.00)

978-1-61147-951-5 • eBook • September 2016 • $44.50 • (£35.00)

Series: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Italian Studies

Subjects: History / Military / World War I, History / Europe / Italy, History / World

Author

Graziella Parati is the Paul D. Paganucci Professor of Italian Literature and Language and professor in the Comparative Literature and Women's and Gender Studies Programs at Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Graziella Parati
1The Italian Socialists and the Great War
Diego Lazzarich
2Fascinating Exploits: Marinetti’s Futurist Performance on the Stage of the Great War
Cinzia Blum
3Nurses, Spies, and Sacrifice: Female Citizenship and Patriotism in Italy
Allison Scardino Belzer
4‘Quando la realta’ cammina piu’ rapida della fantasia:’ Italian Cinema and WWI
Giorgio Bertellini
5War, Laughter, and the Mechanized Body in Italian Silent Film
Michael Syrimis
6The Specter of Hunger: Letters and Diaries of Italian Prisoners of War
Antonio Gibelli
7Writing and Publishing in Italy during the Great War
Loretta De Franceschi
8Chinese Labor Migration and the First World War: Global Geography and Mobility from China to France Italy
Steven Rowe
Index
About the Editor and Contributors

Reviews

In sum, this collection offers new, interesting perspectives on the cultural features of Italy during the First World War, and would definitely interest anyone curious about the Great War.
— The European Legacy