Paolo Selmi | Istituto Universitario Orientale, Napoli, Italy (original) (raw)

Papers by Paolo Selmi

La semina e il raccolto. Ricerche, analisi e traduzione integrale di "Pianificabilità, pianificazione, piano" di Ivan Michajlovič Syroežin – II parte, IV capitolo, 2019

Мы закончили переводить, анализировать и дальше исследовать чертвертую главу книги Сыроежина. Так... more Мы закончили переводить, анализировать и дальше исследовать чертвертую главу книги Сыроежина. Такое изучение требовало помочь других источников Советского времени, чтобы дать лучшие результаты в этой, комплексной, работе: в частности, книга Н. К. Байбакова От Сталина до Ельцина (Москва, Газоил пресс, 1998) и работа В. В. Новожилова “Проблемы планового ценообразования и реформа упрaвления промышленностью” (Экономика и математические методы, 1966, Том II, с. 327-339). До сих пор, никто не переводил эти работы – или часть – ни на один западный язык.

Publishing the full translation of IV chapter, along with the analysis and the researches related to it, we start the second part of this book, dedicated to “planification”. The arguments that have been touched by this research work, required further deepening of investigation and collection of materials, most of them from original sources. Between them, several pages have been translated from Nikolaj Konstantinovič Bajbakov, From Stalin to El’cin (От Сталина до Ельцина, Moskva, Gazoil press, 1998), as well as it has been fully translated Viktor Valentinovič Novožilov, “Problems of planned pricing and reform of industry management” (”Проблемы планового ценообразования и реформа упрaвления промышленностью”, Ekonomika i matematičeskie metody, 1966, Tom II, pp. 327-339), stil untranslated up to now.

Con la pubblicazione dell’analisi, degli approfondimenti, e della traduzione integrale del IV capitolo, si inaugura la II parte, relativa alla “pianificazione”, sempre nella consueta struttura a puntate. Gli argomenti toccati hanno reso necessario il confronto e il ricorso ad altre fonti, quasi sempre originali, al fine di rendere il più possibile organico l’impianto complessivo dei risultati di questa attività di ricerca. In particolare, sono stati tradotti ampi stralci dall’autobiografia di Nikolaj Konstantinovič Bajbakov, Da Stalin a El’cin (От Сталина до Ельцина, Moskva, Gazoil press, 1998), così come è stata inserita la traduzione integrale del saggio di Viktor Valentinovič Novožilov, “Problemi di formazione centralizzata dei prezzi e riforma della gestione industriale” (”Проблемы планового ценообразования и реформа упрaвления промышленностью”, Ekonomika i matematičeskie metody, 1966, Tom II, 3° uscita, pp. 327-339), inediti in lingue occidentali.

La semina e il raccolto. Ricerche, analisi e traduzione integrale di "Pianificabilità, pianificazione, piano" di Ivan Michajlovič Syroežin – I parte, 2019

Эта, в сегоднящем мире, уникальная работа. Здесь, книга Советского Экономиста И. Сыроежнина «План... more Эта, в сегоднящем мире, уникальная работа. Здесь, книга Советского Экономиста И. Сыроежнина «Планомерность, планирование, план» не только перевожена на итальянский (до сих пор только первая часть), но также анализирована и исследована, базируя и над работами других экономистах. Цель работы - дать читателю самое большое знание о советском способом производства, о том что он был бы становиться если бы т.н. «перестройка» (или предательство верхушки власти) не была бы, если бы иначе было бы решено. Книга – работа самоучки русского языка, самоучки политэкономии и макроэкономики, результат огромного труда исследовании и совершенствовании. Поэтому, заранее прошу прощения за ошибки в тексте, который не заметил.

Паоло Сельми, Безнате, 22 марта 2019

La seguente pubblicazione raccoglie, senza apporre modifiche, la prima parte di questo lavoro, edito a puntate sulle pagine web di sinistrainrete.info. A questa prima parte seguiranno, se le forze me lo consentiranno, una seconda e una terza con cui si completerà la traduzione integrale dell’opera di Syroežin e la sua analisi; auspico, invece, che l’attività di ricerca continuerà, anche – e soprattutto – a opera di menti più specializzate e raffinate della mia. Auspico che questi strumenti, pubblicati per la prima volta in Italia e in Occidente, aiutino questo processo, difficile quanto necessario. Preciso che, con questo lavoro, non apro nessuna pista e, se il sentiero appare oggi inesplorato, la responsabilità è unicamente di chi, pur potendo fare qualcosa, vi ha lasciato crescere sterpaglie per quarant’anni. Onore, quindi, a chi umilmente raccoglie i cocci da terra e ripulisce, per l’ennesima volta, un sentiero abbandonato da troppo tempo.

Paolo Selmi, Besnate, 22 marzo 2019

This work represents the only existing translation of Soviet economist I. Syroežin’s work Planability, planification, Plan (up to now it has been translated first part, or “Planability” part). A part from it, this work develops text analysis into an all-round research about Soviet model of mature socialism, based on fully social property of the means of productions, and fully operative planning economy. Thesis and results, ça va sans dire, have been completely different not only from the ones of Western mainstream version about Soviet mode of production (vae victis), but also from what non-Western mainstream currently means for “socialism” (vae victoribus), being they forced to add to it, time by time, “fig leaves” to cover their real political economy. This work reflects the structure of first pulication, i.e. serialization, on the web pages of sinistrainrete.info. For any mistake You may detect, I am the only responsible.

Paolo Selmi, Besnate, 22nd of March, 2019

Pubblico questi appunti di lavoro, apparsi a puntate sul sito sinistrainrete.info, come spunto di... more Pubblico questi appunti di lavoro, apparsi a puntate sul sito sinistrainrete.info, come spunto di riflessione e dibattito, nonché contributo a un lavoro di ricerca che non può che essere collettivo fra chi, ancora oggi, non si rassegna allo status quo e avverte l'urgenza di un'alternativa sistemica al modo di produzione attuale. Buon lavoro a tutti.
Paolo

Эта работа - отчёт и анализ остановки китайских мигрантов в Италии. Тогда (1997-2000 гг.), я служ... more Эта работа - отчёт и анализ остановки китайских мигрантов в Италии. Тогда (1997-2000 гг.), я служил переводчиком, преподавателем Итальянского языка, и т.н. "культурным посредником", для них (добровольцем, или работающим по найму Государства). Решил самиздать эту работу, который давным давно представлял в профсоюзной палате Милана, чтобы внести мой вклад для ознакомлении с китайской миграцией и в борьбу против ксенофобию и расизма.

This work is a report and an analysis about the situation of Chinese migrants in Italy. At that time (1997-2000), I worked for them as interpreter, teacher of Italian Language and “cultural mediator” (as volunteer, or paid by State upon temporary contract conditions). I decided to self-publish this work, that I presented long time ago at Milan Camera del Lavoro (Trade Unions Building), in order to give my contribution to a better knowledge of Chinese migration and to fight against xenophobia and racism.

这个论文的题目是住在意大利中国移民的生活及工作条件。那时候（1997-2000年）我给中国个人免费地当翻译员、意大利语老师、所谓“文化中间人”工作。我决定了自出版这种工作（那时候只有米兰大工会官方的报告介绍），为的是对于中国移民条件的越来越好的认识并反对种族歧视、仇视外国做出我的贡献。

This is the first version of the work: “Shaonian Yidali: tracce di un'Italia ‘giovine’nella Cina ... more This is the first version of the work: “Shaonian Yidali: tracce di un'Italia ‘giovine’nella Cina di Sun Yat-sen” , in Antonio FAPPANI, Giuseppe MARCHETTI (edited by), SUN YAT SEN Padre della Patria Cinese – 国父的中山 传, Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana, Brescia, 2014, pp. 94-108.
I've uploaded this version because it contains also all the Chinese and Russian originals of the quoted texts, as well as the bibliography in Chinese, Japanese, Russian (and also a little bit of Korean and Vietnamese…). This work has been commissioned to be part of an overall work about Sun Yat-sen and a reprint of an his biography in Italian. I've been asked to search evidence of the links between Mazzini and Sun Yat-sen: what I've found is not a direct link, but an unique and winding journey between West and East, where the original (Western) sources, that were talking about the heroic images of the Italian Risorgimento, had been progressively deconstructed until becoming the necessary raw material to build new (Eastern) icons and models, heroes fully functional for the Bildungroman that Japanese (and then Chinese) writers then had in mind to meet their needs. In this sense, what came out, was more than expected.

The main purpose of this work is to reconstruct the history and trace the main features of the se... more The main purpose of this work is to reconstruct the history and trace the main features of the several images of Mao Zedong, given to public during a whole half century in USSR: from the discovery of him by Comintern, to a more and more progressive support of him by Stalinist power, until the final choice of him as the leader of Communist Party of China; after this phase, particular attention has been paid to the idyll of Fifties, then to the crisis of the Sixties and to the final breakaway with his demolition and demonization. All has been possible thanks a careful examination of first-hand soviet sources, a lot of whom has been only recently published. This led to take, for each every phase, a peculiar “picture” and, at the same time, to highlight a lot of details inside it, bringing all these portraits back to life and, together with them, depicting also the mood and the trends, the strategies and the tactics, the hopes and the frustrations that are so evident in each one of these documents. Words of writers, journalists, politics, film-makers and even simple men (простые человечки) mark each every step of Mao’s trajectory in the Soviet space and time, giving us a powerful instrument to interpret also what was implied in them and, in their retrospective evaluation, what lied behind them. Anyway, very little space has been accorded to backstage gossips: those details did not have to do with a public image that had been quickly changing during the decades. In fact, through all these Soviet images, no matter if sources were official or unofficial, what emerged as a common feature was always the use of strong and vivid colors to depict him, with the clear intent of maximize public acceptance or condemnation. Also for this reason, Mao Zedong has been one of the most publicly debated figures in Soviet times; also for this reason, an analysis of his so controversial popularity in the eyes of Soviet people, helps to go deeper not only into some little known aspects of sino-soviet relationship, but also to get familiar with the equally little known aspects of soviet everyday life.

Few words in english since, for italian speakers, all this and more can be found in the Introduct... more Few words in english since, for italian speakers, all this and more can be found in the Introduction. This work is the result of more than three years of research, conducted literally stealing time to each every moment of the day, when I was not at job - fundamental instrument to earn a living but, at the same time, greedy Moloch demanding more and more energy - or being involved in family life activities. For this reason it represented the greatest possible effort in my whole life, culminated when, more than an year ago, I presented it to the commission for the final examination, and it was awarded with honours. One year passed and life goes on, a carriage is not a pumpkin and a clerk in a transport company remains a clerk. So I decided to “publish” it, to make it public, since to see it covered with dust on my shelf would have been a nonsense and, in last analysis, the umpteenth insult to what I’ve always believed (и всё таки я верю...). It’s in italian but, for interested people, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to translate selected parts into the other languages that I speak. Of course, of all the mistakes that you may (and will) find in it, I am the only responsible.

This work tries to analyze, after a brief chronicle of 1989 Tian'anmen massacre, what changed and... more This work tries to analyze, after a brief chronicle of 1989 Tian'anmen massacre, what changed and why it did change in the relationship between power and masses in People's Republic of China. In order to do it, it examines early Party documents, as well as writings of Mao Zedong and other chinese communist cadres, through the lens of the traditional political thought and the selective and adaptive translation of Marxist-leninist theory into that context. In order to appreciate more accurately this last aspect, special attention has been paid also to the Komintern documents that they openly declared to follow as guidelines. These and other sources made finally possible to individuate two mainstreams of this particular relationship: a first one, where mass action was rigidly inscribed and disciplined into a (neo)confucian context, that de facto limited its range and influence until its (apparent) neutralization; a second one, where mass action was taken in the greatest account, through its spontaneity and its mighty appearance: from the early maoist comparisons of peasant uprisings to a natural phenomenon, to the later evaluations, by the same maoist faction, of Red guards mass action as an instrumentum regni, to exert political control through chaos and, at the same time, to get off political enemies of the opposite factions, till Tian'anmen protests and the consequent exploitation of that mass partecipation and its fierce repression in terms of inner political struggle. After that, “silence”, often interpreted as “fear” of mass rallies and demonstrations, coincided with the political disappearance of masses and the continuous action of social fragmentation and contemporary harmonization of that growing multeplicity of social and local groups and interests, under the red confucian banner of the only force that can appear now as the only one that unifies and coordinates them: mei you gongchandang, jiu mei you xin zhongguo 没有共产党就没有新中国.

Drafts by Paolo Selmi

Questo lavoro mi ha impegnato per gli ultimi due anni, molte sere e molte mattine fuori dall'orar... more Questo lavoro mi ha impegnato per gli ultimi due anni, molte sere e molte mattine fuori dall'orario di lavoro. E' un lavoro che coniuga ricerca scientifica, passione, militanza. Riguarda i sindacati sovietici, dalle origini alla NEP, con moltissimi materiali inediti non solo in italiano, ma nelle altre lingue occidentali.

Только что закончил работать на это исследование, которое мне занималось oчень дольго, вне ежедневной работы. В этом работе есть попытка сочетать научное исследование, страсть, борьба. Я не могу иначе. Главная тема: история советских провсоюзов, от начала до НЕП. Я много работал над оригинальными источниками, который нашёл и скачал от интернета. Теперь много есть в сети, достаточно, чтобы делать хорошую работу. Результат: исследование, где большинство материалов теперь в распоряжении по-итальянский (где подобных работах по-англиский и нет).

This work took me a lot of time, a lot of evenings and early mornings during this 2 years, outside everyday work. It is a work that puts together scientific research, passion, militancy. It is about Soviet Trade Unions (sovetskie profojuzy), from the beginning to NEP, with a lot of materials previously unpublished not only in Italian, but in all other Western languages as well.

In questa ricerca sull'emulazione socialista, sono tratteggiati sia i contorni di quello che fu s... more In questa ricerca sull'emulazione socialista, sono tratteggiati sia i contorni di quello che fu storicamente (ed è tutt'ora) tale fenomeno, sia i mutamenti di significato da esso assunti lungo la breve storia dell'URSS. Alcuni quesiti iniziali trovano risposta nel corso della trattazione, lasciando il posto ad altri interrogativi, che spero servano di stimolo per ulteriori approfondimenti e riflessioni.
Paolo Selmi, Besnate, 15 luglio 2020.

Dedicato a chi avrebbe più titolo a stare sulla terra, ma è quotidianamente strappato dalla stess... more Dedicato a chi avrebbe più titolo a stare sulla terra, ma è quotidianamente strappato dalla stessa, dopo secoli, perché ritrovatosi, improvvisamente, merce. Tentativo, se vogliamo, dilettantesco, di unire immagine e parola, pubblicato sulla rivista Salento Report nel 2012 e che, a distanza di quasi cinque anni, trovo ancora attuale (non solo perché estirpano ulivi per fare rotonde, ampliare strade o per venderli a qualche abbiente signore, quando non, più prosaicamente, per farne legna da camino, ma anche per la nota vicenda TAP). Anzi, rileggermi e rivedermi a distanza di anni, mi ha fatto venire voglia di ripercorrere quell'orto, con una maggior consapevolezza dell'arte fotografica, e dedicare a questi monumenti viventi il tributo che meritano.

(ниже предусловие на русском языке) This work embraces most of my passions: history of USSR, phot... more (ниже предусловие на русском языке)
This work embraces most of my passions: history of USSR, photography, marxist analysis of society. When I started to write it for a still unpublished essay, I did not imagine that this research would have taken me more further time and energy. However, last year, I was in the condition to proceed, after my working day, along this way. And I succeeded to cover nearly half a century of Soviet History. Now that I have received more urgent jobs to complete, this work has been "paused", covering the period until the Sixties of last century. I will complete it, probably already next year, meanwhile I offer this research to all the people that are interested not only in researching in the past, but also in looking forward to the future and to what we are becoming.

Уважаемые товарищи по работе!
Извините, работа на итальянском языке. чтобы жить, целым днем работаю в одной фирме перевозки, как вернусь домой есть семей... и и вот и всё! Слава Богу, и найду времю вечером (или ночью продолжать заниматься и исследовать. кстати, извините, я самоучитель русского языка. недостачок есть, и не один, к сожалению. эта работа, "акт любви" к моэму фотоаппаратуру, которую я ещё использую. и ответ, к вопросу "как ты достиг?", которые друзя и знакомые, пересмотруя мой чернобелые фотографии, мне задают. используя, я много думал о современном фототехнике. и как "потребительская стоимость" фотографического фотоаппарата меняла, от фотографии до того, то теперь сделают с смартфоном. и как человек, "диалектический" говоря, и менял. вот и как вышло название работы, и схема исследования. эта только первая часть. от начало до 50-х прошлого века. теперь мне задавали одную работу перевоза от китайского (и русского) языка, который мне будет держать меня занят очень долго. и я решил издать частично, чтобы дать всем возможность оценивать одную, совсем неснакомую (по крайней мере, в Италии), замечательную историю.
с уважением,
Паоло

La semina e il raccolto. Ricerche, analisi e traduzione integrale di "Pianificabilità, pianificazione, piano" di Ivan Michajlovič Syroežin – II parte, IV capitolo, 2019

Мы закончили переводить, анализировать и дальше исследовать чертвертую главу книги Сыроежина. Так... more Мы закончили переводить, анализировать и дальше исследовать чертвертую главу книги Сыроежина. Такое изучение требовало помочь других источников Советского времени, чтобы дать лучшие результаты в этой, комплексной, работе: в частности, книга Н. К. Байбакова От Сталина до Ельцина (Москва, Газоил пресс, 1998) и работа В. В. Новожилова “Проблемы планового ценообразования и реформа упрaвления промышленностью” (Экономика и математические методы, 1966, Том II, с. 327-339). До сих пор, никто не переводил эти работы – или часть – ни на один западный язык.

Publishing the full translation of IV chapter, along with the analysis and the researches related to it, we start the second part of this book, dedicated to “planification”. The arguments that have been touched by this research work, required further deepening of investigation and collection of materials, most of them from original sources. Between them, several pages have been translated from Nikolaj Konstantinovič Bajbakov, From Stalin to El’cin (От Сталина до Ельцина, Moskva, Gazoil press, 1998), as well as it has been fully translated Viktor Valentinovič Novožilov, “Problems of planned pricing and reform of industry management” (”Проблемы планового ценообразования и реформа упрaвления промышленностью”, Ekonomika i matematičeskie metody, 1966, Tom II, pp. 327-339), stil untranslated up to now.

Con la pubblicazione dell’analisi, degli approfondimenti, e della traduzione integrale del IV capitolo, si inaugura la II parte, relativa alla “pianificazione”, sempre nella consueta struttura a puntate. Gli argomenti toccati hanno reso necessario il confronto e il ricorso ad altre fonti, quasi sempre originali, al fine di rendere il più possibile organico l’impianto complessivo dei risultati di questa attività di ricerca. In particolare, sono stati tradotti ampi stralci dall’autobiografia di Nikolaj Konstantinovič Bajbakov, Da Stalin a El’cin (От Сталина до Ельцина, Moskva, Gazoil press, 1998), così come è stata inserita la traduzione integrale del saggio di Viktor Valentinovič Novožilov, “Problemi di formazione centralizzata dei prezzi e riforma della gestione industriale” (”Проблемы планового ценообразования и реформа упрaвления промышленностью”, Ekonomika i matematičeskie metody, 1966, Tom II, 3° uscita, pp. 327-339), inediti in lingue occidentali.

La semina e il raccolto. Ricerche, analisi e traduzione integrale di "Pianificabilità, pianificazione, piano" di Ivan Michajlovič Syroežin – I parte, 2019

Эта, в сегоднящем мире, уникальная работа. Здесь, книга Советского Экономиста И. Сыроежнина «План... more Эта, в сегоднящем мире, уникальная работа. Здесь, книга Советского Экономиста И. Сыроежнина «Планомерность, планирование, план» не только перевожена на итальянский (до сих пор только первая часть), но также анализирована и исследована, базируя и над работами других экономистах. Цель работы - дать читателю самое большое знание о советском способом производства, о том что он был бы становиться если бы т.н. «перестройка» (или предательство верхушки власти) не была бы, если бы иначе было бы решено. Книга – работа самоучки русского языка, самоучки политэкономии и макроэкономики, результат огромного труда исследовании и совершенствовании. Поэтому, заранее прошу прощения за ошибки в тексте, который не заметил.

Паоло Сельми, Безнате, 22 марта 2019

La seguente pubblicazione raccoglie, senza apporre modifiche, la prima parte di questo lavoro, edito a puntate sulle pagine web di sinistrainrete.info. A questa prima parte seguiranno, se le forze me lo consentiranno, una seconda e una terza con cui si completerà la traduzione integrale dell’opera di Syroežin e la sua analisi; auspico, invece, che l’attività di ricerca continuerà, anche – e soprattutto – a opera di menti più specializzate e raffinate della mia. Auspico che questi strumenti, pubblicati per la prima volta in Italia e in Occidente, aiutino questo processo, difficile quanto necessario. Preciso che, con questo lavoro, non apro nessuna pista e, se il sentiero appare oggi inesplorato, la responsabilità è unicamente di chi, pur potendo fare qualcosa, vi ha lasciato crescere sterpaglie per quarant’anni. Onore, quindi, a chi umilmente raccoglie i cocci da terra e ripulisce, per l’ennesima volta, un sentiero abbandonato da troppo tempo.

Paolo Selmi, Besnate, 22 marzo 2019

This work represents the only existing translation of Soviet economist I. Syroežin’s work Planability, planification, Plan (up to now it has been translated first part, or “Planability” part). A part from it, this work develops text analysis into an all-round research about Soviet model of mature socialism, based on fully social property of the means of productions, and fully operative planning economy. Thesis and results, ça va sans dire, have been completely different not only from the ones of Western mainstream version about Soviet mode of production (vae victis), but also from what non-Western mainstream currently means for “socialism” (vae victoribus), being they forced to add to it, time by time, “fig leaves” to cover their real political economy. This work reflects the structure of first pulication, i.e. serialization, on the web pages of sinistrainrete.info. For any mistake You may detect, I am the only responsible.

Paolo Selmi, Besnate, 22nd of March, 2019

Pubblico questi appunti di lavoro, apparsi a puntate sul sito sinistrainrete.info, come spunto di... more Pubblico questi appunti di lavoro, apparsi a puntate sul sito sinistrainrete.info, come spunto di riflessione e dibattito, nonché contributo a un lavoro di ricerca che non può che essere collettivo fra chi, ancora oggi, non si rassegna allo status quo e avverte l'urgenza di un'alternativa sistemica al modo di produzione attuale. Buon lavoro a tutti.
Paolo

Эта работа - отчёт и анализ остановки китайских мигрантов в Италии. Тогда (1997-2000 гг.), я служ... more Эта работа - отчёт и анализ остановки китайских мигрантов в Италии. Тогда (1997-2000 гг.), я служил переводчиком, преподавателем Итальянского языка, и т.н. "культурным посредником", для них (добровольцем, или работающим по найму Государства). Решил самиздать эту работу, который давным давно представлял в профсоюзной палате Милана, чтобы внести мой вклад для ознакомлении с китайской миграцией и в борьбу против ксенофобию и расизма.

This work is a report and an analysis about the situation of Chinese migrants in Italy. At that time (1997-2000), I worked for them as interpreter, teacher of Italian Language and “cultural mediator” (as volunteer, or paid by State upon temporary contract conditions). I decided to self-publish this work, that I presented long time ago at Milan Camera del Lavoro (Trade Unions Building), in order to give my contribution to a better knowledge of Chinese migration and to fight against xenophobia and racism.

这个论文的题目是住在意大利中国移民的生活及工作条件。那时候（1997-2000年）我给中国个人免费地当翻译员、意大利语老师、所谓“文化中间人”工作。我决定了自出版这种工作（那时候只有米兰大工会官方的报告介绍），为的是对于中国移民条件的越来越好的认识并反对种族歧视、仇视外国做出我的贡献。

This is the first version of the work: “Shaonian Yidali: tracce di un'Italia ‘giovine’nella Cina ... more This is the first version of the work: “Shaonian Yidali: tracce di un'Italia ‘giovine’nella Cina di Sun Yat-sen” , in Antonio FAPPANI, Giuseppe MARCHETTI (edited by), SUN YAT SEN Padre della Patria Cinese – 国父的中山 传, Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana, Brescia, 2014, pp. 94-108.
I've uploaded this version because it contains also all the Chinese and Russian originals of the quoted texts, as well as the bibliography in Chinese, Japanese, Russian (and also a little bit of Korean and Vietnamese…). This work has been commissioned to be part of an overall work about Sun Yat-sen and a reprint of an his biography in Italian. I've been asked to search evidence of the links between Mazzini and Sun Yat-sen: what I've found is not a direct link, but an unique and winding journey between West and East, where the original (Western) sources, that were talking about the heroic images of the Italian Risorgimento, had been progressively deconstructed until becoming the necessary raw material to build new (Eastern) icons and models, heroes fully functional for the Bildungroman that Japanese (and then Chinese) writers then had in mind to meet their needs. In this sense, what came out, was more than expected.

The main purpose of this work is to reconstruct the history and trace the main features of the se... more The main purpose of this work is to reconstruct the history and trace the main features of the several images of Mao Zedong, given to public during a whole half century in USSR: from the discovery of him by Comintern, to a more and more progressive support of him by Stalinist power, until the final choice of him as the leader of Communist Party of China; after this phase, particular attention has been paid to the idyll of Fifties, then to the crisis of the Sixties and to the final breakaway with his demolition and demonization. All has been possible thanks a careful examination of first-hand soviet sources, a lot of whom has been only recently published. This led to take, for each every phase, a peculiar “picture” and, at the same time, to highlight a lot of details inside it, bringing all these portraits back to life and, together with them, depicting also the mood and the trends, the strategies and the tactics, the hopes and the frustrations that are so evident in each one of these documents. Words of writers, journalists, politics, film-makers and even simple men (простые человечки) mark each every step of Mao’s trajectory in the Soviet space and time, giving us a powerful instrument to interpret also what was implied in them and, in their retrospective evaluation, what lied behind them. Anyway, very little space has been accorded to backstage gossips: those details did not have to do with a public image that had been quickly changing during the decades. In fact, through all these Soviet images, no matter if sources were official or unofficial, what emerged as a common feature was always the use of strong and vivid colors to depict him, with the clear intent of maximize public acceptance or condemnation. Also for this reason, Mao Zedong has been one of the most publicly debated figures in Soviet times; also for this reason, an analysis of his so controversial popularity in the eyes of Soviet people, helps to go deeper not only into some little known aspects of sino-soviet relationship, but also to get familiar with the equally little known aspects of soviet everyday life.

Few words in english since, for italian speakers, all this and more can be found in the Introduct... more Few words in english since, for italian speakers, all this and more can be found in the Introduction. This work is the result of more than three years of research, conducted literally stealing time to each every moment of the day, when I was not at job - fundamental instrument to earn a living but, at the same time, greedy Moloch demanding more and more energy - or being involved in family life activities. For this reason it represented the greatest possible effort in my whole life, culminated when, more than an year ago, I presented it to the commission for the final examination, and it was awarded with honours. One year passed and life goes on, a carriage is not a pumpkin and a clerk in a transport company remains a clerk. So I decided to “publish” it, to make it public, since to see it covered with dust on my shelf would have been a nonsense and, in last analysis, the umpteenth insult to what I’ve always believed (и всё таки я верю...). It’s in italian but, for interested people, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to translate selected parts into the other languages that I speak. Of course, of all the mistakes that you may (and will) find in it, I am the only responsible.

This work tries to analyze, after a brief chronicle of 1989 Tian'anmen massacre, what changed and... more This work tries to analyze, after a brief chronicle of 1989 Tian'anmen massacre, what changed and why it did change in the relationship between power and masses in People's Republic of China. In order to do it, it examines early Party documents, as well as writings of Mao Zedong and other chinese communist cadres, through the lens of the traditional political thought and the selective and adaptive translation of Marxist-leninist theory into that context. In order to appreciate more accurately this last aspect, special attention has been paid also to the Komintern documents that they openly declared to follow as guidelines. These and other sources made finally possible to individuate two mainstreams of this particular relationship: a first one, where mass action was rigidly inscribed and disciplined into a (neo)confucian context, that de facto limited its range and influence until its (apparent) neutralization; a second one, where mass action was taken in the greatest account, through its spontaneity and its mighty appearance: from the early maoist comparisons of peasant uprisings to a natural phenomenon, to the later evaluations, by the same maoist faction, of Red guards mass action as an instrumentum regni, to exert political control through chaos and, at the same time, to get off political enemies of the opposite factions, till Tian'anmen protests and the consequent exploitation of that mass partecipation and its fierce repression in terms of inner political struggle. After that, “silence”, often interpreted as “fear” of mass rallies and demonstrations, coincided with the political disappearance of masses and the continuous action of social fragmentation and contemporary harmonization of that growing multeplicity of social and local groups and interests, under the red confucian banner of the only force that can appear now as the only one that unifies and coordinates them: mei you gongchandang, jiu mei you xin zhongguo 没有共产党就没有新中国.

Questo lavoro mi ha impegnato per gli ultimi due anni, molte sere e molte mattine fuori dall'orar... more Questo lavoro mi ha impegnato per gli ultimi due anni, molte sere e molte mattine fuori dall'orario di lavoro. E' un lavoro che coniuga ricerca scientifica, passione, militanza. Riguarda i sindacati sovietici, dalle origini alla NEP, con moltissimi materiali inediti non solo in italiano, ma nelle altre lingue occidentali.

Только что закончил работать на это исследование, которое мне занималось oчень дольго, вне ежедневной работы. В этом работе есть попытка сочетать научное исследование, страсть, борьба. Я не могу иначе. Главная тема: история советских провсоюзов, от начала до НЕП. Я много работал над оригинальными источниками, который нашёл и скачал от интернета. Теперь много есть в сети, достаточно, чтобы делать хорошую работу. Результат: исследование, где большинство материалов теперь в распоряжении по-итальянский (где подобных работах по-англиский и нет).

This work took me a lot of time, a lot of evenings and early mornings during this 2 years, outside everyday work. It is a work that puts together scientific research, passion, militancy. It is about Soviet Trade Unions (sovetskie profojuzy), from the beginning to NEP, with a lot of materials previously unpublished not only in Italian, but in all other Western languages as well.

In questa ricerca sull'emulazione socialista, sono tratteggiati sia i contorni di quello che fu s... more In questa ricerca sull'emulazione socialista, sono tratteggiati sia i contorni di quello che fu storicamente (ed è tutt'ora) tale fenomeno, sia i mutamenti di significato da esso assunti lungo la breve storia dell'URSS. Alcuni quesiti iniziali trovano risposta nel corso della trattazione, lasciando il posto ad altri interrogativi, che spero servano di stimolo per ulteriori approfondimenti e riflessioni.
Paolo Selmi, Besnate, 15 luglio 2020.

Dedicato a chi avrebbe più titolo a stare sulla terra, ma è quotidianamente strappato dalla stess... more Dedicato a chi avrebbe più titolo a stare sulla terra, ma è quotidianamente strappato dalla stessa, dopo secoli, perché ritrovatosi, improvvisamente, merce. Tentativo, se vogliamo, dilettantesco, di unire immagine e parola, pubblicato sulla rivista Salento Report nel 2012 e che, a distanza di quasi cinque anni, trovo ancora attuale (non solo perché estirpano ulivi per fare rotonde, ampliare strade o per venderli a qualche abbiente signore, quando non, più prosaicamente, per farne legna da camino, ma anche per la nota vicenda TAP). Anzi, rileggermi e rivedermi a distanza di anni, mi ha fatto venire voglia di ripercorrere quell'orto, con una maggior consapevolezza dell'arte fotografica, e dedicare a questi monumenti viventi il tributo che meritano.

(ниже предусловие на русском языке) This work embraces most of my passions: history of USSR, phot... more (ниже предусловие на русском языке)
This work embraces most of my passions: history of USSR, photography, marxist analysis of society. When I started to write it for a still unpublished essay, I did not imagine that this research would have taken me more further time and energy. However, last year, I was in the condition to proceed, after my working day, along this way. And I succeeded to cover nearly half a century of Soviet History. Now that I have received more urgent jobs to complete, this work has been "paused", covering the period until the Sixties of last century. I will complete it, probably already next year, meanwhile I offer this research to all the people that are interested not only in researching in the past, but also in looking forward to the future and to what we are becoming.

Уважаемые товарищи по работе!
Извините, работа на итальянском языке. чтобы жить, целым днем работаю в одной фирме перевозки, как вернусь домой есть семей... и и вот и всё! Слава Богу, и найду времю вечером (или ночью продолжать заниматься и исследовать. кстати, извините, я самоучитель русского языка. недостачок есть, и не один, к сожалению. эта работа, "акт любви" к моэму фотоаппаратуру, которую я ещё использую. и ответ, к вопросу "как ты достиг?", которые друзя и знакомые, пересмотруя мой чернобелые фотографии, мне задают. используя, я много думал о современном фототехнике. и как "потребительская стоимость" фотографического фотоаппарата меняла, от фотографии до того, то теперь сделают с смартфоном. и как человек, "диалектический" говоря, и менял. вот и как вышло название работы, и схема исследования. эта только первая часть. от начало до 50-х прошлого века. теперь мне задавали одную работу перевоза от китайского (и русского) языка, который мне будет держать меня занят очень долго. и я решил издать частично, чтобы дать всем возможность оценивать одную, совсем неснакомую (по крайней мере, в Италии), замечательную историю.
с уважением,
Паоло