Languages of War: How Italian Combat Officers Wrote About the Great War, 1915-1918
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Languages of war: how Italian combat officers wrote about the Great War, 1915-1918 A Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2020 Nella Porqueddu Trinity College Dublin 1 Declaration I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University's open access institutional repository or allow the library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. 2 Summary Built around the idea that 'language went to war', this thesis investigates the impact of the experience of World War I (WWI) on language and mindsets through the analysis of Italian combat officers' war writings. The sources investigated are fifteen war writings: seven letter collections and seven private records (diaries, notebooks, a memoir). Focusing on officers who shared a similar social background and level of culture and literacy enabled a comparative and contrastive analysis of the communicative aspects presented by war writings. Of the private records, five were written by officers who went on to become important literary authors (Carlo Emilio Gadda, Giani Stuparich, Paolo Monelli, Piero Jahier and Emilio Lussu); the last is a novel based on an existing war notebook. The direct experience of combat is central to all the sources considered, as the thesis explores war’s impact on writing activity, narrative attitudes and stylistic features. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which the huge transformation caused by war is recorded not solely in the content of these writings, but also signalled by their frequency, form, style, and narrative strategies (both conscious and unconscious). In spite of the focus on language, the present thesis is not a study of linguistics but rather aims to provide further insights for historical observation. The concept of 'family lexicon' as formulated by Natalia Ginzburg in her novel Family Lexicon is adopted as a lens through which to re-analyze the war experience as deeply connected with the encounter between old and new languages, both private and collective, civilian and military and with the set of values and mentalities to which they are attached. The disruptive impact of war on language is considered in connection with the influence 3 on the individual and collective mindsets, and with the redefinition of relationships, bonds and a sense of belonging to the local milieu, to the nation, the army, the religious community and to the family of origin throughout the conflict. The relationship between experience and language lies at the core of this research work. This research borrows insights arising, first and foremost, from the transnational historiography on WWI and situates itself within the framework of cultural history. The work on German atrocities (Kramer, Horne) provided a compass with which to reassess the boundaries between the collective and individual experience of war, between actual traumatic events and the subjective perspective on them, and, ultimately, between experience, witnessing, collective memories and legacies throughout the conflict. Through this lens, the Rout of Caporetto in 1917 is dedicated particular attention and considered as an epitomizing moment in which all the contradictions of war surface and their disruptive impact is investigated through the private writings accomplished in its aftermath and in retrospect. The resonances of Risorgimento with its narratives, myths and emotional burden are considered with an eye to the latest works on the topic ( Arisi Rota, Banti, Pinto, Riall). Borrowing terms, perspectives and approaches from different disciplines, this thesis aims to provide a new exploration on the multifaceted experience of WWI. Particularly insightful while dealing with war writing and the evolution of a new language was the discussion on temporalities and on the obsolescence of concepts and values (Koselleck, Kerne, Benigno, Horne). The theme of objective and subjective time (Ricoeur) and its influence on narrative 4 and self-projection (Len V. Smith) have been examined in order to investigate officers' writing attitudes. The methodological approach to private writings is informed by the historiography on ordinary people's writings (Antonelli, Caffarena, Gibelli) and the work on ego-documents (Ulrich). Some methodological insights were derived from the field of oral history (Contini, Casellato). A few methodological approaches have been borrowed from other disciplines (Saussure from linguistics, Barthes and Eco from semiotics, Venuti from translation studies, Genette, Raimondi from hermeneutics) and adapted to the investigation of proper primary sources. Notions coming from the fields of psychology and psychiatry have proved particularly insightful while dealing with self-projection through writing. 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………...............10 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………..........14 The subject………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………...14 The sources……………………………………………………………………………………………………………....19 Representativeness of selected sources…………………………………………………………………....26 Between doctrine and belief: between langue and parole............................................32 Beyond the divide between written and oral sources....................................................37 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....39 In dialogue with Omodeo: Historiography or war memorial?...................................... .43 A work of cultural history with a few multidisciplinary crossings……………………………....46 Thesis structure……………………………………………………………………………………………………......49 ‘Domesticating’ and ‘foreignizing’ war………………………………………………………………........52 Chapter 1: War as a family lexicon…...………………………………………………………………....56 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..56 Letters as family epiphanies at the front…………………………………………………………………...61 The two family lexicons of front and home………………………………………………………………..65 Conveying difference in letters home…………………………………………………………………….….72 Two communicative universes……………………………………………………………………………….....80 Family lexicon and mourning in war……………………………………………………………………….....84 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...95 6 Chapter 2: Literary anchors…………………………………………………………………………………...97 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....97 What a transtextual war!...........................................................................................104 Recurrent literary references………………………………………………………………………………....111 'Thirst for printed paper'………………………………………………………………………………………....124 Shared reading: a common ground at the frontline………………………………………………..134 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………....140 Chapter 3: Family communication……………………………………………………………………. 142 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….……………………………… 142 War in words and war in facts………………………………………………………………………………… 144 The reassuring and prescriptive nature of shared readings……………………………………...152 Religion as a shared background ......................................…………………………………….....161 Anachronism and misunderstanding in Vivanti's collection………………………………….....171 Language as a source of misunderstanding in war writings………………………………………179 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………....186 Chapter 4: Military hierarchy and the sense of justice…………………………………… 187 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………….......187 The sense of justice in war……………………………………………………………………………………….189 Between military and civilian identities…………………………………………………………………...197 The denial of recognition………………………………………………………………………………………….203 Legal mindset and language……………………………………………………………………………………..213 Italy: between ambivalence and 'double bind'……………………………………………..............226 7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………236 Chapter 5: Landscapes of war…………………………………………………………………………240 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………240 Encountering the front: men, landscape and writing…………………………………………… 244 In between: moving to and from the front……………………………………………………………257 The impact of war on natural and civilian space…………………………………………………….266 Sharing landscapes…………………………………………………………………………………………………274 Sharing home front landscapes with sons……………………………………………………………..287 Transcending trench landscapes…………………………………………………………………………...292 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..302 Chapter 6: Combat………………………………………………………………………………………………304 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………....304 Between traditional imagery and actual warfare………………………………………………..... 308 Combat writing and subjectivity…………………………………………………………………………….. 312 Delayed accounts: hyperbole and combat…………………………………………………………….…324 The practice of everyday war in Vitelli's notebook……………………………………………………331 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….340 Chapter 7: Breakdown: The trauma of Caporetto…………………………….…………….. 342 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…342 Preconceptions and expectations…………………………………………………………………………... 349 Elements of continuity……………………………………………………………………………………….....…353 Rumours and chaos………………………………………………………………………………………………… 361 8 Writing retreat…………………………………………………………………………………………………………371 Explaining retreat to home………………………………………………………………………………………386 Silence and distance…………………………………………………………………………………………………390 The Rout in retrospect……………………………………………………………………………………………