Condemned Pasts a Topography of Memory from Le Nuove Prison, Turin
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Condemned Pasts A Topography of Memory from Le Nuove Prison, Turin Eleanor Canright Chiari University College London PhD UMI Number: U592681 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U592681 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Condemned Pasts A topography of memory from Le Nuove prison, Turin This thesis focuses on the cultural memory of Le Nuove, a building that served as Turin’s main prison from 1870 until 1987, and was closed in 2004. By analysing stories which emerge from oral history, from archives, and from material traces in the building, the project considers the significance ofLe Nuove for the city of Turin and how prison memory may contribute to broader Italian history. The thesis addresses the forms these stories take, the larger myths and assumptions that they imply, and how they are used by social actors to further a particular vision of the past, for active use in the present. The thesis follows the topography of the prison, locating each chapter in a particular physical site. Chapter I (on the gate) discusses the physical and temporal permability of the building. Chapter II (on the cell) focuses on prisoner memories of the physicality of the prison experience. Chapter III (on the roof) focuses on the memory of three prison riots. Chapter IV (on the turrets) focuses on violence, guards and silences, and on the narratives surrounding the killings of two prison guards in the 1970s. Chapter V (on the church) considers the changing role of the church in prison and its myths. Chapter VI (on the tour) focuses on the work of the organizationNessun Lomo E ’ U n’Isola and describes how this group attempts to make the past present into the building today. Broader problems involved in transforming prisons into heritage, and the use of suffering as an argument for cultural heritage, are also considered. Chapter VII (on the outer walls) closes the thesis with reflections on the dangerous meanings still projected onto the prison even in its transitional state as a ruin in the city. 2 To my parents & Raimondo 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was made possible by the generous funding of the AHRC and the UCL Graduate School Research Scholarship. I would like to thank my primary supervisor John Foot for his invaluable contributions to this project, for his guidance and patience, for making trips to Turin, and for the efficiency and care with which he read all of my drafts. I also thank my supervisors: Victor Buchli for his insights into the material culture aspects of the project and David Forgacs for the practical knowledge he imparted during our filming trip to Rome. I am very grateful to all of my informants for sharing their stories. I would like to thank Orazio Toscano, in particular, for his friendship and for guiding me through the prison and to the Martinetto firing range. I am deeply indebted to Angelo Toppino- a passionate explorer of Turin’s history and underground tunnels- for providing me with useful contacts, materials and insights. I am also deeply indebted to Padre Ruggero Cipolla and to his assistant Secondo Ercole for giving me access to the archive in the convent of S. Bernardino da Siena in Saluzzo, for copies of their books and for driving me to and from the train station. I thank Felice Tagliente for giving me access to the prison. Dr. Niccoli from the Archivio di Stato was extremely helpful in allowing me access to the prison fund. Dr. Montaldo helped me assess the feasability of the project’s focus on the 19th century (which was abandoned). Christian De Vito, a real Italian prison expert, shared several important meals and gave me all his contacts. Adam Reed w’as constructively critical and helped me prepare for the upgrade examination. I am grateful to Carrie Hamilton for her reading and comments on chapter III, to Ann Goette for her meticulous reading of drafts of chapters I&II, and to Gretchen Goette for her careful and supportive reading of the entire thesis. I also thank Giacomo Chiari for being my personal photographer and technical assistant; Pal Klouman Bekken for generously donating his laptop computer to me; Cahal McLaughlan for his films and for several relevant discussions; Gill Rye and the anonymous readers of chapter I for their comments; Renato Peronetto for his contacts; Max Henninger forGli Invisibili, the Internationale Situatfonista, and Alfredo Bandelli. Finally I thank Chiara Dalmaviva for allowing me to use her beautiful and haunting photographs. My personal thanks go to my parents for all their support, and especially for financing the important extras, which made this thesis possible. To my brother Raimondo for being my most enthusiastic and critical listener in the early stages of the thesis and for his insights and ideas, which helped shape the project. To Rachel Carr, Guri Bordal, Giovanna Fumagalli, Maria Wesslen, Elsha Yiu and Nir Cohen for keeping me together at a difficult time. To Biddy Amott for more than I can tell. To the fabulous current and past inhabitants of 256 Pentonville Road for countless meals, talks and friendship and in particular to Gerardo de Caro for morning brainstorms and for his critical feedback in the final stages of the project. To Elise Klouman, Rachele Tardi and Nils August Andresen for their scholarly empathy, generosity and warmth. To Harald Bekken in respect and admiration for his difficult work in the Oslo prison. To Rebecca Stegman, Sarah Trefeil, Marta Cammarano, Mark, Tobias and Katja, Pal, Sigrid Bakke, Liv Kvemebo, the Goette sisters, Pietro & Irene, M & M, Sophie Landres, Evelyn Carr, and Steven Hinds for giving me care, good food and shelter (sometimes from the storms) in my wanderings back and forth during this thesis. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS TiminiHiiiiiii ilTIITIIHIIIIIIIIl nuimiHiimii p i ! i i 11 ♦ 1 ♦ Chap. Three Conclusion 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures 8 Introductory Remarks 10 Architecture and History: the Physical Shape of Le Nuove over Time 15 Overv iew of the Thesis 20 1. THE GATE 23 2. THE CELL 38 First impressions, arrivals 40 Home 47 Prison time: political prisoners and heterotopia 62 Breakdowns 69 Extraordinary Cells 78 Conclusion 82 3. TELE TURRETS 86 The prison guard syndrome 88 Guard-Prisoner Relations in the 1970s 92 A body on the ground:the death of Giuseppe Lorusso 97 The ex-prison guard club 109 The gold medal: the death of Lorenzo Cotugno 113 Conclusion 123 4. THE ROOF 125 Literature on prison riots 128 On the eve of destruction-the riots of 1969 and 1971 131 The forgotten riot of the summer of 1976 143 Conclusion 157 6 5. THE CHURCH 161 Architecture, codes and *rel. rites in the penitentiary’ 163 Padre Ruggero 175 Padre Ruggero as witness 184 The prison museum in the chapel 191 Nuns 197 Nuns during the war 201 Conclusion 209 6. THE TOUR 212 No Man is an Island ... 219 Prisons as Heritage 227 Obliteration: the case of the prison ‘Carandiru’ 229 Designation: The Maze/Long Kesh prison 231 Rectification: The Alcatraz prison museum 236 Sanctification: Robben Island 240 Discussion 244 Heritage, suffering and pity 249 Conclusion 254 7. THE OUTER WALLS 257 APPENDIX Appendix 1 266 Appendix 2 268 Appendix 3 276 BIBLIOGRAPHY 278 7 LIST OF FIGURES Map of the prison- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. The front gate- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Fig. 1- Orazio Toscano and his mother- photo courtesy of Orazio Toscano. Entrance to Cell- photo courtesy of Chiara Dalmaviva. Fig.2- Cell Window - photo courtesy of Chiara Dalmaviva. Fig.3- Cooking Utensils Left Behind by Departing Prisoners- photo courtesy of Chiara Dalmaviva. Fig.4- Containment bed- photo from newspaper, courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Fig.5- Clinic Cell- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Fig.6- The children’s nursery in the prison- from the prison museum, my photograph. Lockers behind guard’s entrance booth- photo courtesy of Chiara Dalmaviva. Fig.7- The Turret overlooking bus terminal- my photograph. Fig.8- Giuseppe Lorusso- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Fig.9- Front page of La Stampa 19 January 1979. Fig. 10- Celebration for the ‘Festa degli Agenti di Custodia’- the prison guard’s yearly festivity- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Fig. 11- Lorenzo Cotugno- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Image of the glass window in the main rotunda seen from below-photo by Giacomo Chiari Fig. 12- Le Nuove from the outside, roof and steeple- photo by Giacomo Chiari. Fig. 13- Cover of “Carcere: mensile di contro-informazione’, January 1977. Fig. 14- Prisoners with sign calling for 'prison reform'- from La Stampa 15 August 1976. Fig. 15- Inmates on the roof of Le Nuove- From Gazzetta del Popolo 3 September 1976 Fig.l6-Women protest on the roof, summer 1976- From La Stampa d.m. Summer 1976. L 'ultimo rimasto ’(the last one left)-photo courtesy of Chiara Dalmaviva. Fig. 17-1950s restored prison church- photo courtesy of Padre Ruggero Cipolla. Fig. 18- The prison chapel before renovations- my photo from prison museum. Fig. 19- Architect’s drawing of Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia Fig.20- The multi-celled chapel today- photo by Giacomo Chiari.