n Ryder, Emily Jennifer Hana (2015) Memory, perception, reception: following the fate of the victims of Italy's anni di piombo through the writing of their children. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7056/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Memory, Perception, Reception: Following the fate of the victims of Italy’s anni di piombo through the writing of their children. Emily Jennifer Hana Ryder Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of PhD School of Modern Languages and Cultures College of Arts University of Glasgow January 2016 Abstract This thesis considers some of those who were killed in politically-motivated attacks, often referred to as ‘terrorism’, which took place during Italy’s anni di piombo. Six works written by victims’ children will be used as a lens through which to examine the collective memory and the victims’ place therein. In recent years, there has been a shift in the way that this period of Italian history - the anni di piombo – has been remembered. Where previously the perpetrators of the violence of those years dominated public discourse, in the last decade the principal narrative has become more victim-centred. The biographical works written by victims’ children have inevitably contributed to this change in the memory narrative. The techniques employed in their writing in order to change the existing public image of their fathers will be analysed in this thesis, along with certain themes that recur throughout the six works and broader victim- centred discussion of this period. Analysis begins with a thorough outline of the political and historical context of the anni di piombo, including case studies of two of the most famous victims of this period and a consideration of the written works of some of the former terrorists. Following this preliminary contextualisation, each of the six books and their authors will be studied in detail to provide a foundation for the analysis contained in the final three chapters. The themes examined in the second half of the thesis are second- generation writing, forgiveness and commemoration. Using these themes as a framework, a rigorous investigation of the place that the victims hold in collective memory; the role their children’s writing has played in shaping and maintaining their public image and the longer-term impact that these changes can be seen to have had within a broader societal and political perspective is undertaken. On the basis of this study, it is evident that the victims’ place in the collective memory of the anni di piombo has changed dramatically since that period of violence concluded. The victims’ children have been very significant in enacting this change and their writing has placed them in a position from which they can continue to exert influence and promote a victim-centred approach to history. Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents .......................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ......................................................................... 8 Author’s Declaration ....................................................................... 9 Introduction ................................................................................ 10 Anni di piombo .......................................................................... 10 Collective memory ...................................................................... 18 Writing ................................................................................... 20 Thesis structure ......................................................................... 23 1 The emergence of the victim ...................................................... 29 1.1 History and context ............................................................ 30 1.1.1 Stragi and strategia della tensione ...................................... 32 1.1.2 Left-wing violence .......................................................... 33 1.2 Calabresi and Moro: two symbols of the anni di piombo ................. 36 1.3 Responses to perpetrator-centred narratives .............................. 43 1.3.1 Injustice and silence ....................................................... 45 1.3.2 Victims vs. perpetrators: ‘memory wars’ ............................... 47 1.4 Ex-terrorists’ perspectives .................................................... 49 1.4.1 Alberto Franceschini ....................................................... 52 1.4.2 Mario Moretti ................................................................ 55 1.4.3 Adriana Faranda ............................................................ 60 1.4.4 Barbara Balzerani ........................................................... 65 1.5 Conclusion ....................................................................... 68 2 An introduction to the corpus of works ........................................... 71 2.1 Agnese Moro, Un uomo così: Ricordando mio padre. ...................... 73 2.2 Giovanni Fasanella and Sabina Rossa, Guido Rossa, mio padre. ......... 75 2.3 Mario Calabresi, Spingendo la notte più in là: Storia della mia famiglia e di altre vittime del terrorismo. .................................................... 79 2.4 Benedetta Tobagi, Come mi batte forte il tuo cuore. .................... 82 2.5 Silvia Giralucci, L’inferno sono gli altri. .................................... 86 2.6 Massimo Coco, Ricordare stanca. ............................................ 91 3 The effects of writing on the collective memory ............................... 97 3.1 Postmemory and a ‘community of narrative’ .............................. 97 3.2 Memory and silence ........................................................... 101 3.3 Controlling the public image ................................................. 105 3.4 Writing as a form of therapy ................................................. 109 3.5 Distance ......................................................................... 113 3.6 Writing from a personal perspective: questions of dignity and pride .. 116 3.7 Narratability of memory ...................................................... 118 3.8 Age and remembering ......................................................... 120 3.9 Conclusion ...................................................................... 126 4 Forgiveness ........................................................................... 129 4.1 Why forgive? .................................................................... 132 4.2 Forgiveness and faith ......................................................... 137 4.2.1 Oltre la notte di piombo and Sedie vuote: two perspectives on forgiveness. .......................................................................... 139 4.3 Benedetta Tobagi: Non mi consolava affatto. ............................ 141 4.4 Gemma Capra: Padre, perdona loro. ....................................... 144 4.5 Eleonora Moro: E io, nel profondo, li ho perdonati. ..................... 148 4.6 Sabina Rossa: oggi quei ruoli così definitivi non ci corrispondono più completamente. ....................................................................... 151 4.7 Silvia Giralucci: Per me è semplicemente inconcepibile. ............... 153 4.8 Forgiveness and justice ....................................................... 154 4.8.1 Massimo Coco: posso sapere chi fu a ucciderlo? ...................... 158 4.8.2 Forgiveness and agency ................................................... 160 4.9 Conclusion ...................................................................... 163 5 Commemoration and memory ..................................................... 165 5.1 Commemorative practices: ceremonies .................................... 166 5.1.1 Commemorative ceremonies as theatres of mourning ............... 168 5.1.2 Commemorative ceremonies as a link between past and present . 171 5.1.3 Giorno della memoria ..................................................... 173 5.2 Commemorative practices: memorial sites ................................ 182 5.3 Memory expectations: what official commemoration can mean to victims’ families ....................................................................... 185 5.4 Stewards of memory .......................................................... 189 5.4.1 Giorno della memoria 2013 .............................................. 191 5.5 Organising commemoration .................................................. 193 5.6 Resistance memory ............................................................ 196 5.7 Conclusion ...................................................................... 199 Conclusion ................................................................................. 202 Bibliography ............................................................................... 208 Acknowledgements I would first