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The death (and re-birth) of the hero: charisma and manufactured charisma in modern Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Stephen Gundle
Stephen Gundle*
Affiliation:
Department of Italian, Royal Holloway, Egham Hill, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK. E-mail: s.gundle@rhbnc.ac.uk
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Summary

In the twentieth century Italy has witnessed an unusual variety of charismatic political figures. Given the tradition of the Risorgimento and in particular the influence of Garibaldi, several of these donned the mantle of heroism. However, in modern conditions this heroism was largely a matter of showmanship. With the rise of mass communications, political leaders were compelled to reinvent the nature and forms of their appeal to the people and also to engage with the languages of popular entertainment. It is argued that cinema heralded a profound change in the nature of charisma and that television subsequently undermined it by rendering political leaders familiar and reducing the distance necessary for stage management.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 3 , Issue 2: Charisma and the cult of personality in modern Italy , November 1998 , pp. 173 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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References

Notes

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