Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:34:08.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dwelling space and social identities: the Roman bourgeoisie, c. 1950–80

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2011

BRUNO BONOMO
BRUNO BONOMO*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Storia Culture Religioni, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Rome, Italy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This article explores the relationship between dwelling space and the lifestyles and social identities of the Roman bourgeoisie during a period of great social and cultural change. Concentrating on a few exemplary situations, the neighbourhoods and homes of the bourgeoisie are examined through the analysis of elements such as forms of behaviour, social relations, dress codes, building typologies and domestic interior furnishings. What emerges is the importance of dwelling space to the development and expression of bourgeois social identities, as well as the plurality of the latter and their evolution over the period examined.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 276 - 300
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Introduction to the Italian edition of Wallerstein, I., Il sistema mondiale dell'economia moderna, vol. I: L'agricoltura capitalistica e le origini dell'economia-mondo europea nel XVI secolo (Bologna, 1978), 9Google Scholar. All quotations from Italian sources have been translated into English by the author.

2 Savage, M., ‘Urban history and social class: two paradigms’, Urban History, 20 (1993), 61–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Gunn, S., ‘The spatial turn: changing histories of space and place’, in Gunn, S. and Morris, R.J. (eds.), Identities in Space. Contested Terrains in the Western City since 1850 (Aldershot, 2001), 1–14Google Scholar.

4 See, for example, Gunn, S., ‘Class, identity and the urban: the middle class in England, c. 1790–1950’, Urban History, 31 (2004), 29–47CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Thompson, V., ‘Telling “spatial stories”: urban space and bourgeois identity in early nineteenth-century Paris’, Journal of Modern History, 75 (2003), 523–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Cannadine, D., Class in Britain (New Haven and London, 1998)Google Scholar; Vidotto, V., Italiani/e. Dal miracolo economico a oggi (Rome and Bari, 2005), 66–71Google Scholar.

6 Gallino, L., Dizionario di sociologia (Turin, 1993), 76–9, 109–12Google Scholar.

7 See Gunn, S., History and Cultural Theory (Harlow, 2006), 138–42Google Scholar.

8 Hayes, N., ‘“Calculating class”: housing, lifestyle and status in the provincial English city, 1900–1950’, Urban History, 36 (2009), 114–15, 122–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Vidotto, V., Roma contemporanea (Rome and Bari, 2006 (orig. edn 2001))Google Scholar; Bartolini, F., Rivali d'Italia. Roma e Milano dal Settecento a oggi (Rome and Bari, 2006)Google Scholar.

10 Ferrarotti, F., Roma da capitale a periferia (Rome and Bari, 1970)Google Scholar; idem, Vite di baraccati. Contributo alla sociologia della marginalità (Naples, 1974); Macioti, M.I., La disgregazione di una comunità urbana. Il caso di Valle Aurelia a Roma (Rome, 1988)Google Scholar; Viccaro, U., Storia di Borgata Gordiani. Dal fascismo agli anni del ‘boom’ (Milan, 2007)Google Scholar.

11 Agnew, J., Rome (Chichester, 1995), 111–22Google Scholar; Martinelli, F., Ricerche sulla struttura sociale della popolazione di Roma (1871–1961) (Pisa, 1964), 131–58Google Scholar; Babonaux, A.M. Seronde, Roma dalla città alla metropoli (Rome, 1983), 429–505Google Scholar.

12 A. Drago, ‘Quartieri alti’, Capitolium, 7–8 (1952), 166.

13 Painter, B.W. Jr, Mussolini's Rome. Rebuilding the Eternal City (Basingstoke, 2005), 108–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bartolini, F., Roma borghese. La casa e i ceti medi tra le due guerre (Rome and Bari, 2001), 48ffGoogle Scholar; Grifone, M.R. and Rendina, C., ‘Parioli’, in I Rioni e i Quartieri di Roma, vol. VI: Flaminio, Parioli, Pinciano. . . (Rome, 1990), 1491–512Google Scholar.

14 Ginsborg, P., A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943–1988 (London, 1990), 245–7Google Scholar.

15 In administrative terms, up until the late 1970s, the area commonly known as Parioli was located in two different municipal subdivisions: in part the Quartiere II Parioli and in part the Quartiere III Pinciano. Given that both of these subdivisions also included other areas, besides their respective portions of Parioli, the data on the residents’ socio-professional profile – available only for the municipal subdivisions in their entirety – are not indicative at all.

16 Petri, E., Roma ore 11 (Palermo, 2004 (orig. edn 1956)), 125Google Scholar.

17 ‘Gusto italiano paghe giapponesi’, Il Giorno, 1 Mar. 1962, 9.

18 di Meana, M. Ripa, I miei primi quarant'anni (Milan, 1988 (orig. edn 1984)), 16Google Scholar.

19 The predominantly conservative orientation of the residents of Parioli clearly emerges in the results of political and administrative elections, largely favouring centre and right-wing parties: see De Mucci, R., La politica dei cittadini. Forme e strumenti di partecipazione politica nei sistemi urbani (Milan, 1984), 84–5Google Scholar. However, it must be stressed that electoral data, similar to those on social composition, are relative to a vaster territorial area than the neighbourhood itself.

20 Interview with Franceca Socrate (historian, born in 1949), 20 Dec. 2008. Audio files of all interviews conducted for this research are held at the Archivio Franco Coggiola, Circolo Gianni Bosio, Rome.

21 Bourdieu, P., Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (Cambridge, MA, 1984 (orig. edn 1979)), 193–200Google Scholar. On table manners, see also Elias, N., The Civilizing Process. Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations (Oxford, 2000 (orig. edn 1939)), 45–109Google Scholar.

22 Interview with Francesca Socrate.

23 Laurenzi, C., Due anni a Roma (Venice, 1957), 13–14Google Scholar. Caraceni was a prestigious tailor with ateliers in Rome and Milan.

24 Moravia, A., La vita interiore (Milan, 2009 (orig. edn 1978)), 162Google Scholar.

25 Vanzina, E., Colazione da Bulgari (Rome, 1996), 11Google Scholar. The amatriciana is a typically Roman pasta sauce.

26 Ibid., 9.

27 Panzini, A., Dizionario moderno delle parole che non si trovano nei dizionari comuni (Milan, 1950), 913Google Scholar.

28 Niccoli, A., Dizionario della lingua italiana (Rome, 1961), 678Google Scholar.

29 Arbasino, A., Fratelli d'Italia (Milan, 1963), 195Google Scholar.

30 Moravia, La vita interiore, 113–14.

31 ‘Erano convinti di aver ucciso anche Donatella’, Paese Sera, 2 Oct. 1975, 4.

32 ‘Ore tredici, a colloquio con gli amici degli assassini di Roma’, Corriere della Sera, 3 Oct. 1975, 1; ‘“Non vogliamo parlare” dicono i seviziatori al giudice’, Il Messaggero, 4 Oct. 1975, 1.

33 Zingarelli, N., Il nuovo Zingarelli. Vocabolario della lingua italiana (Bologna, 1983), 1334Google Scholar.

34 Il grande dizionario Garzanti della lingua italiana (Milan, 1987), 1347.

35 I ragazzi dei Parioli (S. Corbucci, 1959). The film's title means ‘boys from Parioli’.

36 Interview with Paolo Piperno (lawyer, born in 1943), 15 Jan. 2009.

37 Interview with Michele Surdi (lecturer in Philosophy of Law, born in 1948), 15 Jan. 2009. Rita Pavone is an Italian singer who was highly popular in the 1960s.

38 Bourdieu, Distinction, 114ff.

39 ‘Casal Palocco’ is habitually spelled both as two words (as in this article) and as a single word: ‘Casalpalocco’. In addition, the abbreviated form ‘Palocco’ is sometimes used as well. See Bonomo, B., ‘“On holiday 365 days a year” on the outskirts of Rome. Urban form, lifestyles and the pursuit of happiness in the suburb of Casalpalocco, ca. 1955–1980’, in Bartetzky, A. and Schalenberg, M. (eds.), Urban Planning and the Pursuit of Happiness. European Variations on a Universal Theme (18th–21st centuries) (Berlin, 2009), 168–97Google Scholar.

40 Rossi, P.O., Roma. Guida all'architettura moderna 1909–2000 (Rome and Bari, 2000 (orig. edn 1984)), 166Google Scholar.

41 A. Cederna, ‘I vandali in casa’, Il Mondo, 17 Nov. 1951, 8.

42 Insolera, I., Roma moderna. Un secolo di storia urbanistica 1870–1970 (Turin, 1993 (orig. edn 1962)), 191Google Scholar. The development of Parioli in the post-war period reflected more general trends of Rome's urban growth, which was marked by wild property speculation, ineffectiveness of planning and the proliferation of illegal housing.

43 Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Società Generale Immobiliare Sogene, Ufficio Pubblicità, folders 1 and 3 (temporary classification).

44 The retired and housewives accounted for 8%, and those who performed ‘other activities’ 5% (Casalpalocco Società Generale Immobiliare, special issue of Quaderni della Società Generale Immobiliare (1973), 24–6).

45 ‘Sulla famiglia Chattergjie ci sarebbe da scrivere un libro’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Jul. 1969, 15–16.

46 ‘Concludiamo la nostra inchiesta su Casalpalocco’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Jan. 1970, 4.

47 ‘Che ne dite di Casal Palocco?’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Dec. 1969, 11.

48 ‘I prezzi salati del “vivere meglio”’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Jul. 1971, 8.

49 Interview with Rita Chiodoni (advertising agent and painter, born in 1953), 15 Mar. 2008.

50 ‘Vestitevi così la mattina a Palocco’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Feb. 1969, 7.

51 ‘Sabato sera’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Jan. 1970, 9.

52 Interview with Fabrizio Schneider (retired journalist, born in 1921), 21 Mar. 2008. The sporty dress adopted by Casal Palocco's residents is also emphasized in the highly critical representation of this residential environment in Nanni Moretti's film Caro Diario (1993): see Bonomo, ‘“On holiday 365 days a year”’, 193.

53 Crainz, G., Storia del miracolo italiano. Culture, identità, trasformazioni fra anni cinquanta e sessanta (Rome, 1996)Google Scholar; Cardini, A. (ed.), Il miracolo economico italiano (1958–1963) (Bologna, 2006)Google Scholar.

54 Scarpellini, E., L'Italia dei consumi: dalla Belle Époque al nuovo millennio (Rome and Bari, 2008), 129ffGoogle Scholar.

55 de Grazia, V., Irresistible Empire. America's Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe (Cambridge, MA, 2005)Google Scholar; Fehrenbach, H. and Poiger, U.G. (eds.), Transactions, Transgressions, Transformations. American Culture in Western Europe and Japan (New York, 2000)Google Scholar; Gundle, S., Between Hollywood and Moscow. The Italian Communists and the Challenge of Mass Culture, 1943–1991 (Durham, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

56 Capuzzo, P. (ed.), Genere, generazione e consumi. L'Italia degli anni Sessanta (Rome, 2003)Google Scholar.

57 Vidotto, Italiani/e, 81–2.

58 Stella, S. Piccone, La prima generazione. Ragazze e ragazzi nel miracolo economico italiano (Milan, 1993)Google Scholar; Cavalli, A. and Leccardi, C., ‘Le culture giovanili’, in Storia dell'Italia repubblicana, vol. III.2: L'Italia nella crisi mondiale. L'ultimo ventennio (Turin, 1997), 707–800Google Scholar.

59 Marwick, A., The Sixties. Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy and the United States, c.1958–c.1974 (Oxford, 1998), 17Google Scholar.

60 ‘Cosa vorreste in più da Casalpalocco?’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Jan. 1973, 4.

61 Interview with Giuseppe Ciorra, known as Pippo (architect and Professor of Architecture, born in 1955), 11 Jun. 2008.

62 Interview with Rita Chiodoni.

63 For example, Fausto Antonini in ‘Noi e gli altri in un ambiente così’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Nov. 1968, 2; Piero Cherchi in ‘Amarcord Palocco. Alcuni “vecchi” palocchini ci hanno detto’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Mar. 1977, 3.

64 ‘Poche poltrone per pochi “eletti”?’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Mar. 1969, 1–2; ‘Che ne pensate di Casal Palocco?’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Nov. 1969, 3–4; ‘Che ne dite di Casal Palocco?’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Dec. 1969, 11.

65 ‘Quando calano i sipari che scena!’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Feb. 1969, 5; ‘I problemi di Palocco e i necessari interventi del Comune’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, May 1970, 3.

66 Soldati, M., ‘Il verme’, in 55 novelle per l'inverno (Milan, 1971), 279Google Scholar.

67 Villini were generally between three and five storeys in height, with a setback of at least four metres on all sides; palazzine were between four and six storeys, with a maximum height of 19 metres (attic excluded) and a setback of 5.7 metres from adjacent lots (though not from the street); the intensivi were up to nine storeys tall, with a maximum height of 28 metres.

68 Elia, M. Manieri, ‘Roma capitale: strategie urbane e uso delle memorie’, in Caracciolo, A. (ed.), Storia d'Italia. Le regioni dall'Unità a oggi. Il Lazio (Turin, 1991), 541Google Scholar.

69 Bartolini, Roma borghese, 146–9.

70 Insolera, I., Roma. Immagini e realtà dal X al XX secolo (Rome and Bari, 1980), 429Google Scholar; Manieri Elia, ‘Roma capitale’, 544.

71 Leontidou, L., The Mediterranean City in Transition. Social Change and Urban Development (Cambridge, 1990), 12–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

72 L'attico (G. Puccini, 1962).

73 ‘Com'è eccitante fare la moglie del medico!’, Oggi, 13 Oct. 1970, 24–7.

74 Gundle, S., ‘Hollywood glamour and mass consumption in post-war Italy’, Journal of Cold War Studies, 4, 3 (2002), 95–118CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

75 ‘Noi e gli altri in un ambiente così’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Nov. 1968, 1. Via del Tritone is an elegant street in Rome's city centre.

76 Interview with Rita Chiodoni.

77 Bonomo, B., ‘Grande impresa e sviluppo urbano: l'attività della Società generale immobiliare a Roma nel secondo dopoguerra’, Storia urbana, 112 (2006), 176ffGoogle Scholar.

78 Bartolini, Roma borghese, 156.

79 ‘Una buona idea per sentirsi più vicini’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Nov. 1974, 24.

80 Interview with Paolo Piperno.

81 Interview with Francesca Socrate.

82 Minestroni, L., Casa dolce casa. Storia dello spazio domestico tra pubblicità e società (Milan, 1996), 19–42Google Scholar; Scrivano, P., ‘Signs of Americanization in Italian domestic life: Italy's post-war conversion to consumerism’, Journal of Contemporary History, 40 (2005), 317–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Asquer, E., La rivoluzione candida. Storia sociale della lavatrice in Italia (1945–1970) (Rome, 2007)Google Scholar.

83 Saraceno, C., ‘La famiglia: i paradossi della costruzione del privato’, in Ariès, P. and Duby, G. (eds.), La vita privata. Il Novecento (Rome and Bari, 2001 (orig. edn 1988)), 55Google Scholar. On the evolution of the Italian salotto (an old-style drawing room or parlour) and its transformation into the soggiorno (a modern living room), see Casciato, M., ‘L'abitazione e gli spazi domestici’, in Melograni, P. (ed.), La famiglia italiana dall'Ottocento a oggi (Rome and Bari, 1988), 573–87Google Scholar; Salvati, M., ‘Il salotto’, in Isnenghi, M. (ed.), I luoghi della memoria: simboli e miti dell'Italia unita (Rome and Bari, 1996), 173–95Google Scholar.

84 On the complex relationship and reciprocal influence between the home and its inhabitants, see Miller, D., ‘Behind closed doors’, in idem (ed.), Home Possessions. Material Culture behind Closed Doors (Oxford and New York, 2001), 9–11Google Scholar.

85 Patti, E., ‘Un cocktail’, in Il punto debole (Milan, 1960 (orig. edn 1952)), 59–66Google Scholar.

86 Interviews with Francesca Socrate and Paolo Piperno.

87 De Fusco, R., Storia dell'arredamento (Turin, 1993), 464–567Google Scholar; Woodham, J.M., Twentieth-Century Design (Oxford, 1997), 111–40Google Scholar.

88 Moravia, A., ‘L'Indiano’, in Nuovi racconti romani (Milan, 2006 (orig. edn 1959)), 282Google Scholar.

89 Interview with Michele Surdi.

90 Bourdieu, Distinction, 71. Newspaper and magazine articles from the 1950s and early 1960s testify to the widespread preference for traditional furnishings among the Italian bourgeoisie at large: C. Cederna, ‘Una casa nuovissima coi mobili della bisnonna’, L'Europeo, 14 Feb. 1954, 28–9; ‘Il complesso del Re Sole’, Il Giorno, 13 May 1962.

91 Interview with Rita Chiodoni.

92 Interview with Franco Proietti (retired surveyor, born in 1937), 14 Apr. 2008.

93 La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Jan. 1969, 5–6, Jul. 1969, 15.

94 ‘I consigli dell'Architetto’, La Gazzetta di Casal Palocco, Dec. 1968, 14.

95 See Lawrence-Zúñiga, D., ‘Material conditions of family life’, in Barbagli, M. and Kertzer, D.I. (eds.), The History of the European Family, vol. III: Family Life in the Twentieth Century (New Haven and London, 2003), 5–6Google Scholar.

96 Banti, A.M., Storia della borghesia italiana: l'età liberale (Rome, 1996)Google Scholar; Meriggi, M., The Italian Borghesia, in Kocka, J. and Mitchell, A. (eds.), Bourgeois Society in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Oxford, 1993), 423–38Google Scholar; Socrate, F., ‘Borghesie e stili di vita’, in Sabbatucci, G. and Vidotto, V. (eds.), Storia d'Italia, vol. III: Liberalismo e democrazia, 1887–1914 (Rome and Bari, 1995), 363–442Google Scholar.