Abstract
This article analyses the case of Italy and how the memory of World War II came to provide the ground for political legitimacy and the ideological foundations of post-war democracy. It focuses on the topos of the Resistance against Fascism as a ‘second Risorgimento’, e.g. a national and patriotic war of liberation supported by the entire populace. The article argues that the process of memory formation of the Resistance as a ‘second Risorgimento’ during the period of transition from Fascism to democracy shares the defining features of a rite of passage in the sense originally introduced by Arnold Van Gennep. The article develops a conceptual approach that brings together social science approaches to liminality, transition, and memory studies. Advancing a processual approach to memory formation, the article thus offers an alternative to the still dominant functionalist-presentist approaches to memory, heavily influenced by Durkheim society since the pioneering work of Halbwachs.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Tidsskrift | History and Anthropology |
Vol/bind | 32 |
Udgave nummer | 5 |
Sider (fra-til) | 527-548 |
Antal sider | 22 |
ISSN | 0275-7206 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2021 |
Emneord
- Liminality
- Resistance/second Risorgimento
- memory formation
- rites of passage
- social dramas