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Connected and disconnected memoryscapes of the Antigorio Valley: a village under water and a Second World War massacre on a cableway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2016

Hildegard Diemberger
Hildegard Diemberger*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge
*
*Email: hgmd2@cam.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article looks at two sites of memory in northern Italy that are geographically and temporally close but are remembered and narrated in different ways. Referring to specific tragic events that took place in the Valle Antigorio (northern Val d’Ossola) – the destruction of a village by the construction of a hydroelectric basin in 1938 and a massacre of partisans on a cableway in 1944 – it shows how memory can not only be divided but also connected and disconnected through fluid memoryscapes and remembrance practices that respond to shifting political contexts and a varying sense of belonging.

Abstract in italian

Questo articolo fa riferimento a due luoghi della memoria nell’Italia settentrionale, che sono vicini dal punto di vista geografico e temporale ma sono ricordati e raccontati in modi diversi. Si tratta dei tragici eventi avvenuti in Valle Antigorio (Ossola settentrionale) e in particolare la scomparsa di un villaggio, Agaro, mediante la costruzione di un bacino idroelettrico nel 1938 e il massacro dei partigiani sulla funivia di Goglio nel 1944. Essi dimostrano come la memoria possa essere non solo ‘divisa’ ma anche essere fatta di ricordi collegati o separati da narrative fluide che riflettono non solo paesaggi e pratiche della memoria ma anche la situazione politica dominante ed il senso di appartenenza di chi racconta.

Keywords

Valle AntigorioAgaroGoglioResistance
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 19 - 34
Copyright
© 2016 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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