The Italian Literature Of The Axis War: Memories Of Self-Absolution And The Quest For Responsibility

Description

Represents the first in-depth study of Italian literature about World War II written in the three decades after 1945. Builds on an innovative interdisciplinary methodology, combining memory studies, historiography, thematic criticism, and narratology. Explores the influence of public memories of the past on literary depiction, and the contribution of literary texts to the formation of such memory discourses. This book investigates the representation of the Axis War – the wars of aggression that Fascist Italy fought in North Africa, Greece, the Soviet Union, and the Balkans, from 1940 to 1943 – in three decades of Italian literature. Building on an innovative and interdisciplinary methodology, which combines memory studies, historiography, thematic criticism, and narratology, this book explores the main topoi, themes, and masterplots of an extensive corpus of novels and memoirs to assess the contribution of literature to the reshaping of Italian memory and identity after the end of Fascism. By exploring the influence that public memory exercises on literary depictions and, in return, the contribution of literary texts to the formation and dissemination of a discourse about the past, the book examines to what extent Italian literature helped readers form an ethical awareness of the crimes committed by members of their national community during World War II. Preface and Acknowledgements......Page 7 Praise for The Italian Literature of the Axis War......Page 9 Contents......Page 10 Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 12 Chapter 2: Memory: Theory, History, and Media......Page 25 2.1 Studying Memories......Page 26 2.2 The Italian Collective Memories of World War II......Page 32 2.3 Studying Literature and Memory......Page 41 Chapter 3: Topoi of Innocence......Page 61 3.1 The Good Italian Soldier......Page 65 3.2 The Sagapò Army......Page 74 3.3 The Difference Between the Italians and the Germans......Page 82 3.4 The Difference Between the Italians and the Fascists......Page 90 3.5 Topoi of Memory and Historical Reality......Page 97 Chapter 4: Themes of a Lost War......Page 110 4.1 Innocence......Page 111 4.2 Defeat......Page 115 4.3 Victimhood......Page 123 4.4 Suffering......Page 131 4.5 Horror......Page 135 4.6 Pacifism......Page 141 4.7 Heroism......Page 150 4.8 Literary Themes and the Italian Collective Memory......Page 161 Chapter 5: Masterplots of Sacrifice and Conversion......Page 174 5.1 The Removal of Violence......Page 175 5.2 Moments of Guilt......Page 187 5.3 The Masterplot of Sacrifice......Page 198 5.4 The Masterplot of Conversion......Page 205 5.5 Narrative Masterplots and Catholic Memory Templates......Page 214 Chapter 6: The Quest for Responsibility......Page 226 6.1 Polyphonies and Complexities......Page 227 6.2 Facing Guilt Claiming Responsibility......Page 241 6.3 The Counter-discourse of the Italian Memory......Page 252 Chapter 7: Conclusion......Page 260 Appendix: The Italian Literature of the Axis War, 1945–1974......Page 265 Index......Page 267