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‘It was like something that you have at home which becomes so familiar that you don't even pay attention to it’: memories of Mussolini and Fascism in Predappio, 1922–2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2016

Sofia Serenelli
Sofia Serenelli*
Affiliation:
British School at Rome, Rome
*
∗Email: s.serenelli@bsrome.it
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Abstract

Despite the increasing scholarly attention dedicated to the study of reception and memory of Fascism, these issues have not yet been widely addressed from the standpoint of collective memories in specific local contexts. Through a combined use of oral history and micro-history, this study explores the identity and collective memory of Predappio, Mussolini's hometown. Predappio is an emblematic place on account of its ‘public’ role within the Italian nation as the town of the Duce and, since 1957, the site of neofascist pilgrimages. By looking at memories of people born under the regime from different political orientations, ranging from the right to the left, it concentrates on the local collective memory of Fascism, of Mussolini and of the ongoing post-war cult of the Duce. The article aims to demonstrate both the relevance of local mythologies and the increasing spread of a reconciliatory narrative of Fascism based on traditional values such as family and kinship.

Keywords

collective memorypossessive memorytransversal narrativelocal mythologyfamily ties
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 18 , Issue 2: Special Issue: The Cult of Mussolini in Twentieth-Century Italy Guest Editors: Christopher Duggan, Stephen Gundle and Giuliana Pieri , May 2013 , pp. 157 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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