Broken Time, Fragmented Space A Cultural Map of Postwar Italy |
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Author:
| Torriglia, Anna Maria |
Series title: | Heritage Ser. |
ISBN: | 978-1-4875-8722-2 |
Publication Date: | Dec 2002 |
Publisher: | University of Toronto Press
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Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $39.95 |
Book Description:
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Broken Time, Fragmented Space: A Cultural Map for Post-war Italyexamines how the artists and intellectuals of post-war Italy dealt with the 'shameful' heritage of their fascist upbringing and education by trying to craft a new cultural identity for themselves and the country. The continuities between the culture of the fascist and post-fascist periods were, however, far greater than what intellectuals were ready to admit, creating an uncomfortable, sometimes schizophrenic...
More Description
Broken Time, Fragmented Space: A Cultural Map for Post-war Italyexamines how the artists and intellectuals of post-war Italy dealt with the 'shameful' heritage of their fascist upbringing and education by trying to craft a new cultural identity for themselves and the country. The continuities between the culture of the fascist and post-fascist periods were, however, far greater than what intellectuals were ready to admit, creating an uncomfortable, sometimes schizophrenic relation to time, as a painful urge to erase the past.
Drawing on a variety of critical approaches, Torriglia investigates the efforts to reconstruct a personal as well as a collective self by analyzing both canonical and lesser-known cinematic and literary texts. Organized around four main themes - the use of language, the interaction between personal and public spheres, the perceptual categories of history and memory, and the reconstruction of the female identity - the study also includes historical introductions and sociological commentary that provides an extensive and captivating picture of the cultural production in 1950s Italy, a period that has not yet been extensively studied.