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Forming a National Identity

Forming a National Identity. Collodi’s Pinocchio and De Amicis’ Cuore. Mass Migration. From the second half of the 19th century through 1984. 1888-1924. Almost 30 million Italians leave for the Americas, the European Union, Australia

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Forming a National Identity

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  1. Forming a National Identity Collodi’s Pinocchio and De Amicis’ Cuore

  2. Mass Migration • From the second half of the 19th century through 1984. • 1888-1924. • Almost 30 million Italians leave for the Americas, the European Union, Australia • In the 1980s, a reversal of the pattern: emigrants returning to Italy, and a strong immigration from countries outside the EU.

  3. Italy as a nation • Factionalized: • French in the South (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) • Spanish in the North (16th century) • Austrians replace Spanish • 1860: Garibaldi & Mille • 1861: Regno d’Italia (Turin) • 1870: Rome annexed (The 3rd Rome)

  4. Immigration • Italy has witnessed 3 forms of immigration: • internal (within), • external (abroad, approx. 30 million to the Americas, Australia, EU), • from other nations (principally extra EU, since mid 1980s, approx. 1 million legal "extracomunitari", who know how many illegal "clandestini"). • Problems of internal immigration is what is first brought to light by the Unification.

  5. Unification • M. d'Azeglio: “We have formed Italy, now we must form Italians.” • There existed previously • a cultural nationalism (literature, the arts, political theory, families, thinkers), • a political fragmentation (French, Spanish, Austrians, Papacy, the Savoia of Sardegna). To whom do the people of this new nation owe their allegiance? • As well as linguistic diversification: what language do we speak?

  6. Formation of new Italians • How? Through education of its new generation. Much debate about the value of public education. • Two works particularly representative of the debate, • one where school setting is less instructive than life's adventures--Pinocchio. • the other where the school setting fosters the instruction of values (w/core subject matters are secondary, or used to serve the instruction of values)--Cuore.

  7. Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio • The WORLD knows Pinocchio (1883) by Carlo [Lorenzini] Collodi (Firenze). • Collodi was a somewhat prolific, active writer, though he passed as someone who was lazy and avoided work (!) • Disney's Pinocchio is very different from Collodi's • Pinocchio is a puppet when he goes to school.

  8. Collodi’s Pinocchio • Despite instruction that is given to him by "Blue Fairy," Pinocchio must make his mistakes, create mischief, in order to learn. • The character is quite complex, and even though he finally agrees to become "a good boy," he has a hard time doing so, goes through more mischief, and finally "triumphs." • He becomes a boy, though question remains whether he is more of a puppet in the end (goes to school, obeys his father, becomes "good"), than when he started out.

  9. Lesson from Pinocchio • The Fairy with the Touquoise Hair said, "Good boy, Pinocchio! Thanks to your good heart, I forgive you all the boyish pranks that you have done up until today. Boys who lovingly assist their own parents in their miseries and in their infirmities, are always worthy of great praise and great affection, even if they cannot be cited as models of obedience and of good conduct. Behave in the future, and you will be happy.

  10. De Amicis’ Cuore • Every ITALIAN knows Cuore (1886) by Edmondo de Amicis (Liguria) • Takes place in Torino • a. educare vs istruire (Mazzini) • Cuore emphasizes values: School is the place were values are formed (instruction not as important as values). Characters are one-dimensional, but each represents an essential component of the nationalcharacter, all present in the hero, Enrico.

  11. De Amicis’ Cuore • b. anti-clericale (no mention of Church, or its holidays (!)) • c. Devotion to institutions of the state • d. Patriotism and political instruction • Vittorio Emanuele, Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi (himself an immigrant of sorts to So America) • e. Title: Cuore: the Heart of a Boy. Meaning of cuore: love, courage, compassion, generosity, patriotism, hard work, all those positive qualities that are represented in the characters.

  12. De Amicis’ Cuore • f. Final chapter, final letter (from Mother): La scuola è una madre. • Just as the Fairy with the Turquoise hair was the teacher who taught Pinocchio the values needed to become a responsible adult, so, too, the maternal nurturing of the school will lead these boys to responsible adulthood.

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