CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Bastianini, Edoardo |
|---|---|
| Title | Political-sponsored institutionalization of the Italian Resistance. The Institute Alcide Cervi. 1972-2008 |
| Summary | The research aims to reconstruct the history of the Alcide Cervi Institute from 1972 to 2008 in order to study the institutionalization process of the Italian Resistance and its relation to left-sided political parties. The objective of this study is to gain insight into the ways in which political processes, including decision-making and funding strategies, may have influenced the manner in which the Cervi brothers' story was utilized in the national memory competition, through a political-sponsored cultural institute. The Alcide Cervi Institute represents an insightful case study for investigating the interplay between history and power dynamics. The execution of the seven Cervi brothers in 1943 by the fascist regime became a symbol of the Resistance in the Italian Republic. The intricate process of commemorating, memorializing, and institutionalizing this event on a national level, involving political parties, associations, and witnesses, reached its culmination in 1972 with the foundation of the Institute. The dichotomy between the national vocation of the Rome Office and Reggio Emilia will be the focus of our analysis. In 2008, the House Cervi in Gattatico became the epicenter of the Institute, serving as a center for memory, commemorations, cultural and research activities, a museum, an archive, and a library. The study relies heavily on the mapping and use of unpublished records related to the administration of the Institute Cervi and conserved, uncataloged, in its current archive. These include all the resumes of the Associates’ Assembly and the Administration Committee, as well as part of the budget and the folders related to cultural initiatives, from 1972 to 2008. In addition to the aforementioned sources, photographic and video material, as well as national and local press, have been integrated to assess the political engagement and the role of the Institute in the public sphere. The involvement of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and its successors in the Institute will be examined concerning the broader political context of the Italian Republic: the critical phases of the Resistance Memory Wars, especially the passage between 1989 and the end of the so-called First Republic in 1994, will be entangled with the development of the Cervi Institute structures and functions. This perspective will facilitate a critical examination of the shift from an initial emphasis on academic output to the proliferation of public events during the 1990s. A more nuanced comprehension of how Resistance memory is shaped and disseminated will empower public historians to facilitate responsible contributions by public-funded institutions toward collective memory. |
| Supervisor | Iordachi, Constantin |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/bastianini_edoardo.pdf |
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