The Role of Educative Thought in the Life and Work of Antonio Gramsci
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by e-Prints Soton UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES School of Social Sciences The Role of Educative thought in the Life and Work of Antonio Gramsci by Jenifer Margaret Nicholson Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ABSTRACT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Doctor of Philosophy THE ROLE OF EDUCATIVE THOUGHT IN THE LIFE AND WORK OF ANTONIO GRAMSCI By Jenifer Margaret Nicholson Many philosophers have propounded a vision of an improved society, what distinguishes Antonio Gramsci is his continuous effort to make it happen by understanding the process in order to put into practice. Gramsci‟s conviction about the importance of educative development came from both theory and experience. While there has been considerable examination of Gramsci‟s work in relation to the Prison Notebooks, this study will seek to address a lacuna in Gramsci scholarship. Using Gramsci‟s philological method, I analyse Gramsci‟s pre-prison activity; his pre-prison articles and letters, which, together with his letters from prison, formed part of his educative mission. This educative process was necessary, in order to construct a new party which would develop a collective will, collaboratively, with the masses. In this study therefore, I explore the contexts and formative experiences of the first part of his life together with the intellectual sources from which Gramsci developed his later theories, making central hitherto underemphasised connections between them which informed his writing and ideas. I intend to illustrate that Gramsci‟s underlying purpose in his writing, and political activity, was not only practical, on how to create a new socialist ruling class, but also educative in forming the mindset and values of his comrades. So that in addition to outlining his vision of a new order, he implicitly guided or explicitly explained the processes by which the necessary changes in social relations and moral climate could be made in order to achieve it. Each person had to engage with the values of the new order so that each could contribute to the construction of a new robust state. It was essential to build a hegemony at the most profound level, one which was dependent on collective understandings and a collective will. Content Abstract Content .............................................................................................................................. Table of Figures ............................................................................................................... Academic Thesis: Declaration Of Authorship ............................................................. Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... Abbreviations.................................................................................................................... Antonio Gramsci: a brief chronology ............................................................................ Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 Chapter Two: The Sardinian Context ....................................................................... 12 Chapter Three: The Issue of a Single Language for Italy ..................................... 25 Chapter Four: Language Theory, Hegemony, and the Intellectuals. .................. 47 Chapter:Five Preparing for Power, Words into Action........................................... 65 Chapter Six: Leadership and the Communist Party of Italy .................................. 90 Chapter Seven: Prisoner 7047 ................................................................................ 123 Chapter Eight: Conclusion ....................................................................................... 152 References ................................................................................................................. 156 Table of Figures Figure 1 Gramsci‟s Room .......................................................................................... 19 Figure 2 Photo of 15 year old Gramsci (Colombo 1977:20) ................................. 21 Figure 3 Gramsci‟s first journalists' card (Colombo 1977:23) ............................... 22 Figure 4 Main dialect regions (Mosca: 1986:94) ................................................... 30 Figure 5 Sardinian Conscripts in traditional dress in late 1800‟s (Colombo 1977:10) ........................................................................................................................ 35 Figure 6 Sardinian bandits captured by the Carabinieri in early 1900‟s (Colombo 1977:12)...................................................................................................... 40 Figure 7 "Sotto la mole " column Avanti, January 31, 1916. ............................... 71 Figure 8 La citta futura pamphlet ............................................................................. 73 Figure 9 Diagram of the three fields of education ............................................... 103 :Academic Thesis: Declaration Of Authorship I, Jenifer Margaret Nicholson………………………………………………………………………………………… . [please print name] declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. [title of thesis] …The role of educative thought in the life and work of Antonio Gramsci………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………….. I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. Either none of this work has been published before submission, or parts of this work have been published as: [please list references below]: Nicholson, J. (2007) “Private or Public, Political or Personal? The role of the letters from prison of Antonio Gramsci”, in A.C Sparkes (Ed.) Auto/Biography Year Book 2007.(117-130) Signed: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………. Date: …………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………. Acknowledgements I wish to thank the Fondazione Istituto Gramsci in Rome for the use of their extensive library and for access to the Gramsci Archive from which I was able to study original Italian unpublished documents. I had been in correspondence with the then Archivist Donatella di Benedetto since 1992 during the completion of my MA before I first visited the institute in Rome in 2000, and I am sincerely grateful for the way in which she and subsequent colleagues at the Institute, Francesco Giasi, the present Archivist, and Giovanna Bosman have made time for discussion and for their interest and helpful suggestions. I am grateful to the Biblioteca Comunale di Castiglione del Lago (PG) for study space and the extended loan of some essential texts which were not available in England. I first began writing about Gramsci for my MA and it was the inimitable Michael Erben, my tutor and egregio professore who encouraged me to continue my research and to bring it to fruition in a Ph.D. I thank him for driving me on, for his patience, critical observations, faith in my project and remarkable knowledge of things Marxisant. I am also grateful to my sisters Cindy and Ronni for patiently proof-reading with such care and for pruning my peculiar punctuation. I also thank David, Eveleigh and Ian for spurring me on through the whole process. Ringrazio in modo particolare la Fondazione Istituto Gramsci di Roma per l‟accesso alla loro biblioteca, così importante per chi si occupa di Gramsci, ed al loro archivio, e soprattutto per avermi lasciato consultare testi originali ed inediti presenti nel Fondo Gramsci. Son rimasta in contatto con Donatella di Benedetto, allora archivista, fin dal 1992, quando ho conseguito il mio MA,.e sono sinceramente grata a lei, a Francesco Giasi, l‟archivista attuale, ed a Giovanna Bosman, nonché a tutti i loro colleghi dell‟Istituto per la generosità con cui son stata accolta e per i suggerimenti a l‟aiuto prezioso che mi hanno offerto. Sono grata anche alla Biblioteca Comunale di Castiglione del Lago per il prestito prolungato di libri che sono stati importantissimi per il mio studio. Abbreviations Abbreviations: the following are used throughout the text to denote frequently used collections of Gramsci’s writings. Where works are listed in Italian they have been translated by the author. (ON) Gramsci, A. (1955) L‟Ordine Nuovo 1919-1920. Torino: Einaudi. (SG) Gramsci, A. (1958) Gli Scritti Giovanili. Torino: Einaudi. (CPC) Gramsci, A. (1971) La Costruzione del Partito comunista 1923-1926. Edited by E.Fubini. Torino:Einaudi. (SPN) Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Translated and edited by Q.Hoare and G. Nowell Smith. London: Lawrence and Wishart (SP.1) Gramsci,