Paola S. Salvatori Scuola Normale Superiore – Pisa
[email protected] Myths, rituals and political liturgies of the Fascist regime Panel: JS13. Political Rituals, Symbols and Celebrations An old historiographic formula dating back to 1961 defined Fascism as ‘The reign of words, Or rather, of words plus loudspeaker’: more than one generation of historians identified with that formula and, for at least three decades following the fall of the regime, highlighted an empty but fatal superstructure in the fascist celebratory rhetoric that concealed a basic ‘voluntary ignorance’1. In reality, Fascism had attributed an absolute centrality to political symbols from its very birth, in a short time realising a concentration of rituals and icons which would soon have given rise to a new style, immediately recognisable in the public and private life of millions of Italians. It was therefore a question of a historical and cultural phenomenon that was far more complex and structured than what was expressed by the concept of ‘regime of words’. In the last two decades, a number of important essays have 1 F. Venturi, Il regime fascista, in Trent’anni di storia italiana (1915-1945). Lezioni con testimonianze presentate da Franco Antonicelli, Einaudi, Torino 1975, pp. 186 and 187. From the mid 70s of the XX century, historians and linguists began to consider fascist rhetoric as one of the privileged points of view to analyse fascism also as a cultural phenomenon: among various pieces of work that appeared in these years, cfr. for example the proceedings of the Conference Parlare fascista. Lingua del fascismo, politica linguistica del fascismo, held in Genoa on 22-24 March 1984, published in ‘Movimento operaio e socialista’, 1, 1984; M.