Italian Vices: Nation And Character From The Risorgimento To The Republic
Cambridge University Press, 7/18/2013
EAN 9781107676787, ISBN10: 1107676789
Paperback, 290 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
Why do Italians believe that they have a national character and that this character is a major reason for their political woes? Why is their self-image so frequently derogatory? In this meticulous study of the role of national character in Italian political and social discourse, Silvana Patriarca reconstructs the genealogy of a pervasive idea in the culture of modern Italy. Using sources ranging from political pamphlets to newspapers and films, this book shows how self-representations of national character and its vices were shaped by foreign perceptions and stereotypes, internal political struggles, and changing intellectual paradigms. Investigating the politics of these representations, their ideological content, and their uses, the author recasts the study of Italian patriotism and nationalism as discourses and sheds light on Italian political culture and on the rhetoric of nationalism more generally.
Introduction
1. Indolence and regeneration
2. Making Italians of character
3. Latin individualism in the age of empire
4. Virtues of war
Italian character 'tested' and 'revealed'
5. 'A difficult substance to modify'
6. Autobiographies of the nation
7. Good people
8. 'Italians, that's the way they are'
Conclusion.