Italy's Divided Memory

by J. Foot

Overview

This book argues that contemporary Italian history has been marked by a tendency towards divided memory. Events have been interpreted in contrasting ways, and the facts themselves often contested. Moreover, with so little agreement over what happened, and why it happened, it has been extremely difficult to create any consensus around memory. These divisions have been seen at all levels, but take on particular importance when linked to the great traumatic and life-changing events of the Twentieth century - war, terrorism, disaster - but can also be applied to more cultural fields such as sport and everyday life. Social change also has an impact on memory. This book will take the form of a voyage through Italy (and into Italy's past), looking at stories of divided memory over various periods in the twentieth century. These stories will be interwoven with analysis and discussion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349381050
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	01/13/2010
Series:	Italian and Italian American Studies
Edition description:	1st ed. 2009
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

JOHN FOOT is a Professor of Modern Italian History at University College London, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgments ix

1 Divided Memory: Theory, Methodology, Practice 1

2 World War I: Monument Wars, Unknown Soldiers, and Open-air Cementeries 31

3 Fascist Memories, Memories of Fascism 55

4 Italian Wartime Camps, Italians in Wartime Camps: Traces, Memories, Silences, 1940-2008 71

5 1940-1943: Victory, Occupation, Defeat, Collapse, Memory 97

6 Nazi Massacres and Divided Memory: Stories, Causes, Scapegoats, Memoryscapes 125

7 he Resistance: Three Wars, Many Memories, Many Silences 147

8 The Strategy of Tension and Terrorism: Piazza Fontana and the "Moro Case" Facts, Memory, History 205

Notes 209

References 225

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

'A fascinating account of the sometimes grotesque battles to honour or dishonour this or that Fascist or Communist, with politicians on both sides putting up or tearing down plaques and monuments, naming and renaming streets, to suit their version of events.' - London Review of Books

From the Publisher