This thesis intends to reconstruct the evolution of the Italian colonial consciousness. To this end, it will be analyzed the dynamics that contributed to gradually forge the colonial consciousness and, therefore, to deconstruct it in a country that not only was a late comer in the scramble for Africa but also that has experienced an early and other-directed process of decolonization. The speed of these processes, combined with political-diplomatic contingencies, has hindered a critical thinking of the colonial phenomenon in Italy. In addition to that, it has facilitated the rooting and the diffusion of the long-lasting and self-absolutory myth of the “Italian good people”. This myth, from the post-war period to the present days, has represented the lifeblood for the cultural removal of colonial crimes as well as the revision of the collective memory. The undiscussed colonial past has left visible traces that constantly emerge in the urban fabric. In recent years, streets, squares, monuments of colonial origin have been transformed into a contested space between those who claim the need to contextualize them and those who defend them. Frequently under the radar of visual actions aimed at criticizing the colonial, sexist and racist legacies that it represents, the statue of Indro Montanelli in Milan has been made a contested space. The visual actions that affected it will be reconstructed starting from the polarization of the public debate propagated by national press. Milan is not an isolated case. In recent years, grassroots movements have proliferated throughout the country. They intertwine the reappropriation of public space with urban resistances against the self-absolutory and sometimes revisionist, narration of colonialism endorsed by national institutions. These movements, who are active in the so-called “toponymy and street names guerrilla warfare” were interviewed to investigate the ways in which they promote a collective memory aware of the colonial past.
La tesi si propone di ricostruire il processo di evoluzione della coscienza coloniale italiana. A tal scopo, verranno analizzate le dinamiche che hanno contribuito a plasmare gradualmente la coscienza coloniale e a decostruire la medesima in un paese che non solo ha preso tardivamente parte al processo di spartizione del continente africano bensì ha avuto esperienza di una decolonizzazione precoce ed eterodiretta. La rapidità di tali processi, intrecciata alle contingenze politico-diplomatiche, ha ostacolato un’elaborazione critica del fenomeno coloniale nazionale agevolando il radicamento e la diffusione del longevo mito autoassolutorio degli “italiani brava gente”. Tale mito, dal periodo postbellico ai giorni nostri, ha costituito la linfa vitale per la rimozione culturale dei crimini coloniali nonché per la revisione della memoria collettiva. Il passato coloniale non discusso ha lasciato indelebili tracce che riaffiorano costantemente nel tessuto urbano: vie, piazze, monumenti di matrice coloniale negli ultimi anni si sono trasformati in spazi contesi e contestati tra chi rivendica l’esigenza di contestualizzarli e chi invece li difende dalla cancellazione della storia. Più volte oggetto di azioni visuali finalizzate a criticare i retaggi coloniali, sessisti e razzisti che essa simbolicamente rappresenta, la statua di Indro Montanelli a Milano è stata resa spazio conteso. Le azioni di protesta che l’hanno interessata verranno ricostruite a partire dalla polarizzazione del dibattito pubblico propagato dalla stampa nazionale. Milano non è un caso isolato. Negli ultimi anni, nel territorio italiano sono proliferati movimenti dal basso che intrecciano la riappropriazione dello spazio pubblico alla resistenza urbana nei confronti della vulgata autoassolutoria, e talvolta revisionista, del colonialismo avallata dalle istituzioni. Attivi nella cosiddetta “guerriglia toponomastica e odonomastica” tali movimenti sono stati intervistati per indagare le modalità con cui promuovono una memoria collettiva consapevole del passato coloniale nazionale.
Ciò che resta della coscienza coloniale italiana: memoria urbana e resistenze cittadine.
GAMBA, GIORGIA
2022/2023
Abstract
This thesis intends to reconstruct the evolution of the Italian colonial consciousness. To this end, it will be analyzed the dynamics that contributed to gradually forge the colonial consciousness and, therefore, to deconstruct it in a country that not only was a late comer in the scramble for Africa but also that has experienced an early and other-directed process of decolonization. The speed of these processes, combined with political-diplomatic contingencies, has hindered a critical thinking of the colonial phenomenon in Italy. In addition to that, it has facilitated the rooting and the diffusion of the long-lasting and self-absolutory myth of the “Italian good people”. This myth, from the post-war period to the present days, has represented the lifeblood for the cultural removal of colonial crimes as well as the revision of the collective memory. The undiscussed colonial past has left visible traces that constantly emerge in the urban fabric. In recent years, streets, squares, monuments of colonial origin have been transformed into a contested space between those who claim the need to contextualize them and those who defend them. Frequently under the radar of visual actions aimed at criticizing the colonial, sexist and racist legacies that it represents, the statue of Indro Montanelli in Milan has been made a contested space. The visual actions that affected it will be reconstructed starting from the polarization of the public debate propagated by national press. Milan is not an isolated case. In recent years, grassroots movements have proliferated throughout the country. They intertwine the reappropriation of public space with urban resistances against the self-absolutory and sometimes revisionist, narration of colonialism endorsed by national institutions. These movements, who are active in the so-called “toponymy and street names guerrilla warfare” were interviewed to investigate the ways in which they promote a collective memory aware of the colonial past.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/50049