Jan Nelis | Université libre de Bruxelles (original) (raw)
Books by Jan Nelis
The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the... more The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the Roman Empire to Contemporary Imperialism’, held in Brussels at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Academia Belgica in Rome (September 11-13, 2014). At the heart of the conference was the ‘reception’, ‘Nachleben’ or ‘permanence’ of the Roman Empire, of an idea and a historical paradigm which since classical Antiquity has supported the most widespread claims to obtain and consolidate power. The volume’s focus is on culture in a broad sense, i.e. including besides the arts, philosophy, religion and, most importantly, discourse. As such, a wide array of themes are subjected to academic scrutiny. Whereas the main focus is on Europe and North America, some contributors also reach out towards non-Western contexts, whether or not directly related to the Roman example. A theoretical and sociological dimension is also added thanks to the discussion on methodological issues. More specifically, the following question(s) receive particular attention: what is our position as researchers, embedded in a contemporary, often Western, democratic and capitalist context; what about the notion of empire itself, its constituent elements and the kind of ideological prerogatives to which it is generally subjected; in other words, apart from the many historical variants and instances of reception of empire, through which filters can, and inevitably do, we approach this topic? A question that has become ever more pregnant since the beginning of the twenty-first century, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the events of September 11, which have revivified what could be called American ‘imperialism’, and at a time when an essentially economic variant, driven by ‘emerging’ powers such as China, has increasingly contested existing power structures. In light of such meta-historical awareness, this book touches as much on the nature of the Roman Empire as it does on its historical legacy and, more importantly so, on who claims the latter inheritance throughout the most diverse epochs. By discussing some highly contrasting views upon this topic, participants explore issues that are of fundamental importance to the writing, not only of cultural history, but also of history itself.
edited volume on relation Islam-Christianity
The present volume analyzes new developments concerning religious issues, faith-based organizatio... more The present volume analyzes new developments concerning religious issues, faith-based organizations, State-Church relations and secularism in the EU, which especially during the past two decades have undergone profound changes, changes which continuously and increasingly alter mentalities and habits, whether belief-related or not. In this collective work, authors develop the major themes that are relevant to their country of expertise, while a final chapter is devoted to the role of the European Courts (ECHR and EU). The different chapters show that in recent years, religion, once thought to be of minor importance in a highly secular society, has made quite a vigorous political comeback. Thus Europe seems to have reached a crucial point in its history, a moment in which future tendencies in the field of religion and secularism are being defined, and negotiated. There is little doubt that the outcome of this process will influence the continent’s future outlook, as well as its role and relevance in an increasingly globalized world.
CONTENTS:
Foreword............................................................................................11
Jan Nelis
Austria. The Pluri-Religious Challenge of a Secular State
Ready to Integrate Religion into the Public Space...........................15
Richard Potz
Belgium. The Challenge of a Highly Secularized Yet Multiconfessional Society..................................................................21
Caroline Sägesser
Bulgaria. Encounters between Religion and Secularism
in a Post-Atheist Society....................................................................27
Daniela Kalkandjieva
Croatia. The Role of Religion in a Predominantly
Catholic Country...............................................................................33
Siniša Zrinščak
Cyprus. A Deeply Religious Society..................................................39
Victor Roudometof
The Czech Republic. New Challenges for Churches
in a Highly Secularized Society.........................................................45
Roman Vido
Denmark. The Still Prominent Role of the
National Church and Religious Traditions.......................................51
Henrik Reintoft Christensen
Estonia. The Debate on the Role of Religion
in a Deeply Secular State...................................................................57
Ringo Ringvee
Finland. A Christian, Secular and Increasingly
Religiously Diverse Country.............................................................63
Teemu Taira
France. The Struggle for Laïcité........................................................69
Anne-Laure Zwilling
Germany. The Challenge of Religious Pluralism
and Secularization.............................................................................75
Sylvie Toscer-Angot
Greece. The Politics of Secularization and the Financial Crisis........81
Konstantinos Papastathis
Hungary. Declining Church Religiosity and Increasing
Religious Individualization in a Post-Communist Country............89
Gergely Rosta
Ireland. The Erosion of the Catholic Church’s
Authority and Power.........................................................................95
Brian Conway
Italy. Secularization, Abstract Model vs. Reality.............................101
Giuseppe Casuscelli
Latvia. An Example of Christian Diversity.....................................107
Anita Stasulane
Lithuania. Catholic Church and Public Debates............................113
Milda Ališauskienë
Luxembourg. New Legal Dispositions in a Changing
Religious Landscape........................................................................119
Antoinette Reuter
Malta. A Society with Values in Turmoil.........................................127
Mario Vassallo
The Netherlands. The Impact of Secularization
on a Pillar-Based Society.................................................................135
Agnieszka Szumigalska
Poland. The Catholic Church’s Influence on Social,
Political and Private Life.................................................................141
Michał Czelny, Marta Ordon and Michał Zawiślak
Portugal. A Lingering Catholicism.................................................147
Henrique Machado-Jorge
Romania. Exploring the Bond between Church, State,
and Nation.......................................................................................155
Olivier Gillet
Slovakia. Secularization of Public Life and
Desecularization of the State...........................................................161
Miroslav Tížik
Slovenia. The Catholic Church between Historical
Heritage and Current Financial Problems......................................169
Egon Pelikan
Spain. Important Changes in Religious
Landscape and Public Policy...........................................................175
Julia Martínez-Ariño
Sweden. Blurring Boundaries: Patterns
of Contemporary Religiosity...........................................................181
Ann af Burén
The United Kingdom. The Prevalence of Secularism.....................187
Anthony Bradney
Religion as Seen by the European Authorities.
Liberty, Equality and Non-Discrimination within
the Council of Europe and the European Union............................193
Gabrielle Caceres
Religion in the European Union. A Conclusion.............................211
Jean-Philippe Schreiber
[This is a 'dossier', i.e. a thematic issue, of the journal Historia Actual Online]
This volume presents a series of papers which cover the general theme of the reception of antiqu... more This volume presents a series of papers which cover
the general theme of the reception of antiquity, a topic
which has in recent years become a discipline in itself,
or what some might call a ‘cross-discipline’. Indeed the
Nachleben of the (culture of) classical antiquity, and of
antiquity as a whole, manifests in a number of diverse
domains, opening up the field of reception studies
to scholars from disciplines other than Classics. This
collection of papers illustrates this diversity, uniting
as it does original research by scholars from a variety
of disciplines: classicists, historians, theatre historians,
architectural historians, psychologists, archaeologists,
artists, and more, all of whom have treated some aspect
of the so-called "classical tradition" by means of their
own individual approaches, leading to a volume rich
and dense in themes and methodologies.
This book analyses a manifestation of the use of identitarian discourse in politics, i.e. the rol... more This book analyses a manifestation of the use of identitarian discourse
in politics, i.e. the role of the concept of ‘Romanness’ or romanità
under Italian fascism. The author explores a wide selection of written
press published during the ventennio fascista, and evidences that romanità, conceived as a process of identification between ancient (Roman) and fascist Italy, was a nearly passe partout concept, which could be introduced whenever the most diverse aspects of fascist ideology in some way seemed to converge with Roman antiquity. Rather than focusing on romanità ’s singularity under fascism, this study highlights the relative ease with which this long-existing concept was used and converted. On a more abstract level, the study touches upon the problem of consensus, as it shows how intellectuals were in part responsible for the diffusion and development of one of the major and most omnipresent myths promoted by the fascist regime.
La Marche sur Rome du 28 octobre 1922 met l’Église catholique face à un sérieux compétiteur : le ... more La Marche sur Rome du 28 octobre 1922 met l’Église catholique face à un sérieux compétiteur : le régime fasciste, que de nombreux chercheurs ont pu qualifier de ‘religion politique’, se présente alors aux Italiens comme une ‘voie alternative’ pour le futur. Immédiatement, les deux parties engageront des stratégies afin de leur permettre de maintenir, et si possible d’amplifier, leur pouvoir et leur emprise sur la péninsule. Dans cette nouvelle configuration, c’est autour des notions d’identité nationale, religieuse et culturelle que se penseront les contours, la marge d’extension, mais aussi les limites d’une cohabitation politique qui restera relativement stable durant une vingtaine d’années.
Prenant pour point de départ la revue jésuite La Civiltà Cattolica, véritable ‘laboratoire’ de la pensée catholique italienne, l’étude de Jan Nelis montre que l’Église catholique poursuivait d’abord un agenda propre, celui des dogmes et du pouvoir des catholiques : leur identité, en tant que groupe, fut autant définie par inclusion que par exclusion, et donc dans un rapport souvent complexe à l’‘Autre’. Mobilisant les questions d’identité italienne et ‘romaine’, de colonialisme, de racisme, d’antisémitisme ou encore de religion politique, l’auteur analyse la trajectoire du catholicisme italien de 1919 aux années 1950 et identifie la montée en puissance d’une notion hybride de religiosité et d’italianité qui allait servir à étayer la cohésion entre mondes catholique et national.
The papers presented in this volume analyse the many ways in which the Vatican, national Churches... more The papers presented in this volume analyse the many ways in which the Vatican, national Churches and individual catholics dealt with the rise of the extreme right in Europe throughout the 1920s, 1930s and early 1940s, from the end of the First World War, arguably one of the main catalysts of European interwar fascism, to the conclusion and immediate aftermath of the Second World War. While a number of papers focus primarily on theoretical, methodological issues pertaining to the book’s general theme, the majority of papers focus on either a country or region where a fascist movement or regime flourished between the wars and during the Second World War, and where there was a significant catholic presence in society. The various chapters cover almost the entire European continent – an endeavour that is unprecedented –, and they explore a wide range of relevant contexts and methodologies, thus further contributing to the general development of an interpretive ‘cluster’ model that incorporates a series of investigative matrixes, and that will hopefully inspire future research.
Papers by Jan Nelis
«Noi figli di Roma» Fascismo e mito della romanità 37 Note 56 Roma antica sui mari. Mussolini e l... more «Noi figli di Roma» Fascismo e mito della romanità 37 Note 56 Roma antica sui mari. Mussolini e la costruzione di un mito, di Andrea Giardina 61 Nostri mari 61 Cartagine a Perugia 67 Il mare del nostro scontento 75 Note 78 Roma in colonia. Resti e reperti della romanità nella Libia fascista, di Simona Troilo 85 'Resuscitare' la romanità attraverso i suoi resti 86 Fruizione e (auto)rappresentazione all'insegna dell'Urbe 94 Note 106
![Research paper thumbnail of Nelis Jan, The ‘Memory of Rome’. Identitarian, Racist and Anti-Semitical romanità Discourse in Italy [...], in: Abendlanddiskurse und Erinnerungsraüme Europas im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Metzger Franziska/Sproll Heinz (eds.), Böhlau, Vienna-Cologne, 2022, p. 227-249](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/100191400/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Nelis Jan, The ‘Memory of Rome’. Identitarian, Racist and Anti-Semitical romanità Discourse in It... more Nelis Jan, The ‘Memory of Rome’. Identitarian, Racist and Anti-Semitical romanità Discourse in Italy from the Fascist March on Rome until the Aftermath of the leggi razziali, in: Abendlanddiskurse und Erinnerungsraüme Europas im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Metzger Franziska/Sproll Heinz (eds.), Böhlau, Vienna-Cologne, 2022, p. 227-249
participated in Thursday night dinners, the so-called 'salons du jeudi'-participants were called ... more participated in Thursday night dinners, the so-called 'salons du jeudi'-participants were called Thursdayers or 'jeudistes'-, organized by the marchioness. Two central themes are at the heart of this study, i.e., religion and (geo)politics, shortly before, during and after the First World War. Notably in the light of the marchioness' 'soft power' over political and intellectual life, a closer look at her opinions, as well as at those of one of her closest friends and allies, hopefully will contribute to a better understanding of European high society during this particularly crucial era in European and global, history.
The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the... more The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the Roman Empire to Contemporary Imperialism’, held in Brussels at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Academia Belgica in Rome (September 11-13, 2014). At the heart of the conference was the ‘reception’, ‘Nachleben’ or ‘permanence’ of the Roman Empire, of an idea and a historical paradigm which since classical Antiquity has supported the most widespread claims to obtain and consolidate power. The volume’s focus is on culture in a broad sense, i.e. including besides the arts, philosophy, religion and, most importantly, discourse. As such, a wide array of themes are subjected to academic scrutiny. Whereas the main focus is on Europe and North America, some contributors also reach out towards non-Western contexts, whether or not directly related to the Roman example. A theoretical and sociological dimension is also added thanks to the discussion on methodological issues. More specifically, the following question(s) receive particular attention: what is our position as researchers, embedded in a contemporary, often Western, democratic and capitalist context; what about the notion of empire itself, its constituent elements and the kind of ideological prerogatives to which it is generally subjected; in other words, apart from the many historical variants and instances of reception of empire, through which filters can, and inevitably do, we approach this topic? A question that has become ever more pregnant since the beginning of the twenty-first century, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the events of September 11, which have revivified what could be called American ‘imperialism’, and at a time when an essentially economic variant, driven by ‘emerging’ powers such as China, has increasingly contested existing power structures. In light of such meta-historical awareness, this book touches as much on the nature of the Roman Empire as it does on its historical legacy and, more importantly so, on who claims the latter inheritance throughout the most diverse epochs. By discussing some highly contrasting views upon this topic, participants explore issues that are of fundamental importance to the writing, not only of cultural history, but also of history itself.
The idea of a heritage from ancient Rome, or romanità, was central to Italian fascism. This artic... more The idea of a heritage from ancient Rome, or romanità, was central to Italian fascism. This article analyzes, in the 44 volumes of his Opera Omnia, Il Duce Mussolini’s discourse on romanità, focusing on key themes such as empire, historical characters and the grandeur of archaeological remains. It links Mussolini’s discourse of romanità to his discourse on the future, and to the idea of fascism as a political religion. It shows that Mussolini’s historical knowledge was largely overstated and that it was mainly the omnipresence of romanità, rather than its specific features, which can be defined as central to this notion.
![Research paper thumbnail of The relationship between the Vatican and cultural institutions during fascism [with documentary evidence on a secret encounter between A. M. Montini, future pope Paul VI, and fascist politician Giuseppe Bottai, p. 192], in Latomus, 2012, vol. 71, n° 1, p. 176-192](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/61144653/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](La présente étude s’attache à l’analyse de la symbiose entre fascisme et catholicisme au sein de ... more La présente étude s’attache à l’analyse de la symbiose entre fascisme et catholicisme au sein de l’Istituto di Studi Romani (ISR). Il s’agira de montrer que l’ISR, suivant les exigences du régime et celles du Vatican, jouait un ‘double jeu’, politique et religieux. Ce double jeu est visible, non seulement à travers les activités et les contacts de l’ISR mais aussi dans les publications, c’est-à-dire dans le discours qui, bien que d’une certaine qualité scientifique, est de nature hautement propagandiste. Nous nous baserons sur les nombreuses publications de l’ISR, ainsi que sur des sources d’archives inédites, comprenant certains documents conservés à l’Istituto et dans les archives privées de la famille du fondateur, Carlo Galassi Paluzzi ; les contacts de ce dernier avec d’importantes personnalités politiques et, surtout, ecclésiastiques de l’entre-deux-guerres se révèleront particulièrement importants.
The present paper treats a particular manifestation of contemporary myth-making, the myth of ‘Rom... more The present paper treats a particular manifestation of contemporary myth-making, the myth of ‘Romanness’ known as romanità, which since the end of antiquity has often been viewed as a cornerstone of Italian identity; at times this myth has taken on particular importance, for example during the Renaissance period, and also under fascism. In the years between 1922 to 1943, this myth was utilised as a means of portraying contemporary Italy, centred around Rome as the capital, as a direct and privileged heir of Late Republican and Early Imperial antiquity, a period in which such ‘Roman’ qualities as combativeness, greatness and determination were exemplified. In this instance, romanità, in a very real sense, acted as a full-blown ‘myth of origin’. Whereas in general, the myth of Rome has been the subject of extensive and expertly-wrought analyses, in the case of the Italian fascist reception of Roman antiquity, there are various facets of the way in which romanità affected Italian society during the ventennio fascista - the twenty years during which fascism was in power, from 1922 until 1943 - that still await exploration. In this context, clarification is still lacking regarding the overall significance of the myth within a society which was not only steeped in a traditional religious, Catholic heritage, but was also being confronted with a regime that steadily and increasingly nurtured its own sacral outlook and tendencies, eventually developing into a fully-fledged ‘political religion’. In light of the above observations, this paper analyses the way in which the myth of Rome, omnipresent in fascist culture and even more so within its propaganda, came to be reflected in Italian Catholic opinion. We will engage in a close reading of the widely distributed Catholic newspaper L’Avvenire d’Italia, focusing particularly on the 1930s, a period where the fascist regime enjoyed a heightened popular consensus. In the following section, we start with a brief discussion of the concept of political religion within the context of Italian fascism, followed by a more generalised discussion of romanità in its many manifestations; the paper ends with an analysis of the latter phenomenon’s presence in the pages of L’Avvenire d’Italia.
On February 11, 2013, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, in a near unprecedented move that took his audie... more On February 11, 2013, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, in a near unprecedented move that took his audience and the world largely by surprise, announced that he would abdicate as pope Benedict XVI. Speculation as to who was to become the successor to the one that would henceforth be known as pope 'emeritus' immediately started, until on March 13, an Argentinian cardinal of Italian descent, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected as pope Francis, to the surprise of many. Whereas the image of his predecessor was that of a stern and rather timid theologian, this can hardly be said of papa Bergoglio, who from his very accession has been heralded a renovator and a 'modern' pope, in many ways the opposite of his decidedly conservative, yet at the same time 'postmodern' predecessor. Two years have passed. To many, they have been years of revivification and progress. However, it can also be argued that there has been above all a change in tone and style, rather than in substance. As always, veritas in medio stat.
The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the... more The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the Roman Empire to Contemporary Imperialism’, held in Brussels at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Academia Belgica in Rome (September 11-13, 2014). At the heart of the conference was the ‘reception’, ‘Nachleben’ or ‘permanence’ of the Roman Empire, of an idea and a historical paradigm which since classical Antiquity has supported the most widespread claims to obtain and consolidate power. The volume’s focus is on culture in a broad sense, i.e. including besides the arts, philosophy, religion and, most importantly, discourse. As such, a wide array of themes are subjected to academic scrutiny. Whereas the main focus is on Europe and North America, some contributors also reach out towards non-Western contexts, whether or not directly related to the Roman example. A theoretical and sociological dimension is also added thanks to the discussion on methodological issues. More specifically, the following question(s) receive particular attention: what is our position as researchers, embedded in a contemporary, often Western, democratic and capitalist context; what about the notion of empire itself, its constituent elements and the kind of ideological prerogatives to which it is generally subjected; in other words, apart from the many historical variants and instances of reception of empire, through which filters can, and inevitably do, we approach this topic? A question that has become ever more pregnant since the beginning of the twenty-first century, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the events of September 11, which have revivified what could be called American ‘imperialism’, and at a time when an essentially economic variant, driven by ‘emerging’ powers such as China, has increasingly contested existing power structures. In light of such meta-historical awareness, this book touches as much on the nature of the Roman Empire as it does on its historical legacy and, more importantly so, on who claims the latter inheritance throughout the most diverse epochs. By discussing some highly contrasting views upon this topic, participants explore issues that are of fundamental importance to the writing, not only of cultural history, but also of history itself.
edited volume on relation Islam-Christianity
The present volume analyzes new developments concerning religious issues, faith-based organizatio... more The present volume analyzes new developments concerning religious issues, faith-based organizations, State-Church relations and secularism in the EU, which especially during the past two decades have undergone profound changes, changes which continuously and increasingly alter mentalities and habits, whether belief-related or not. In this collective work, authors develop the major themes that are relevant to their country of expertise, while a final chapter is devoted to the role of the European Courts (ECHR and EU). The different chapters show that in recent years, religion, once thought to be of minor importance in a highly secular society, has made quite a vigorous political comeback. Thus Europe seems to have reached a crucial point in its history, a moment in which future tendencies in the field of religion and secularism are being defined, and negotiated. There is little doubt that the outcome of this process will influence the continent’s future outlook, as well as its role and relevance in an increasingly globalized world.
CONTENTS:
Foreword............................................................................................11
Jan Nelis
Austria. The Pluri-Religious Challenge of a Secular State
Ready to Integrate Religion into the Public Space...........................15
Richard Potz
Belgium. The Challenge of a Highly Secularized Yet Multiconfessional Society..................................................................21
Caroline Sägesser
Bulgaria. Encounters between Religion and Secularism
in a Post-Atheist Society....................................................................27
Daniela Kalkandjieva
Croatia. The Role of Religion in a Predominantly
Catholic Country...............................................................................33
Siniša Zrinščak
Cyprus. A Deeply Religious Society..................................................39
Victor Roudometof
The Czech Republic. New Challenges for Churches
in a Highly Secularized Society.........................................................45
Roman Vido
Denmark. The Still Prominent Role of the
National Church and Religious Traditions.......................................51
Henrik Reintoft Christensen
Estonia. The Debate on the Role of Religion
in a Deeply Secular State...................................................................57
Ringo Ringvee
Finland. A Christian, Secular and Increasingly
Religiously Diverse Country.............................................................63
Teemu Taira
France. The Struggle for Laïcité........................................................69
Anne-Laure Zwilling
Germany. The Challenge of Religious Pluralism
and Secularization.............................................................................75
Sylvie Toscer-Angot
Greece. The Politics of Secularization and the Financial Crisis........81
Konstantinos Papastathis
Hungary. Declining Church Religiosity and Increasing
Religious Individualization in a Post-Communist Country............89
Gergely Rosta
Ireland. The Erosion of the Catholic Church’s
Authority and Power.........................................................................95
Brian Conway
Italy. Secularization, Abstract Model vs. Reality.............................101
Giuseppe Casuscelli
Latvia. An Example of Christian Diversity.....................................107
Anita Stasulane
Lithuania. Catholic Church and Public Debates............................113
Milda Ališauskienë
Luxembourg. New Legal Dispositions in a Changing
Religious Landscape........................................................................119
Antoinette Reuter
Malta. A Society with Values in Turmoil.........................................127
Mario Vassallo
The Netherlands. The Impact of Secularization
on a Pillar-Based Society.................................................................135
Agnieszka Szumigalska
Poland. The Catholic Church’s Influence on Social,
Political and Private Life.................................................................141
Michał Czelny, Marta Ordon and Michał Zawiślak
Portugal. A Lingering Catholicism.................................................147
Henrique Machado-Jorge
Romania. Exploring the Bond between Church, State,
and Nation.......................................................................................155
Olivier Gillet
Slovakia. Secularization of Public Life and
Desecularization of the State...........................................................161
Miroslav Tížik
Slovenia. The Catholic Church between Historical
Heritage and Current Financial Problems......................................169
Egon Pelikan
Spain. Important Changes in Religious
Landscape and Public Policy...........................................................175
Julia Martínez-Ariño
Sweden. Blurring Boundaries: Patterns
of Contemporary Religiosity...........................................................181
Ann af Burén
The United Kingdom. The Prevalence of Secularism.....................187
Anthony Bradney
Religion as Seen by the European Authorities.
Liberty, Equality and Non-Discrimination within
the Council of Europe and the European Union............................193
Gabrielle Caceres
Religion in the European Union. A Conclusion.............................211
Jean-Philippe Schreiber
[This is a 'dossier', i.e. a thematic issue, of the journal Historia Actual Online]
This volume presents a series of papers which cover the general theme of the reception of antiqu... more This volume presents a series of papers which cover
the general theme of the reception of antiquity, a topic
which has in recent years become a discipline in itself,
or what some might call a ‘cross-discipline’. Indeed the
Nachleben of the (culture of) classical antiquity, and of
antiquity as a whole, manifests in a number of diverse
domains, opening up the field of reception studies
to scholars from disciplines other than Classics. This
collection of papers illustrates this diversity, uniting
as it does original research by scholars from a variety
of disciplines: classicists, historians, theatre historians,
architectural historians, psychologists, archaeologists,
artists, and more, all of whom have treated some aspect
of the so-called "classical tradition" by means of their
own individual approaches, leading to a volume rich
and dense in themes and methodologies.
This book analyses a manifestation of the use of identitarian discourse in politics, i.e. the rol... more This book analyses a manifestation of the use of identitarian discourse
in politics, i.e. the role of the concept of ‘Romanness’ or romanità
under Italian fascism. The author explores a wide selection of written
press published during the ventennio fascista, and evidences that romanità, conceived as a process of identification between ancient (Roman) and fascist Italy, was a nearly passe partout concept, which could be introduced whenever the most diverse aspects of fascist ideology in some way seemed to converge with Roman antiquity. Rather than focusing on romanità ’s singularity under fascism, this study highlights the relative ease with which this long-existing concept was used and converted. On a more abstract level, the study touches upon the problem of consensus, as it shows how intellectuals were in part responsible for the diffusion and development of one of the major and most omnipresent myths promoted by the fascist regime.
La Marche sur Rome du 28 octobre 1922 met l’Église catholique face à un sérieux compétiteur : le ... more La Marche sur Rome du 28 octobre 1922 met l’Église catholique face à un sérieux compétiteur : le régime fasciste, que de nombreux chercheurs ont pu qualifier de ‘religion politique’, se présente alors aux Italiens comme une ‘voie alternative’ pour le futur. Immédiatement, les deux parties engageront des stratégies afin de leur permettre de maintenir, et si possible d’amplifier, leur pouvoir et leur emprise sur la péninsule. Dans cette nouvelle configuration, c’est autour des notions d’identité nationale, religieuse et culturelle que se penseront les contours, la marge d’extension, mais aussi les limites d’une cohabitation politique qui restera relativement stable durant une vingtaine d’années.
Prenant pour point de départ la revue jésuite La Civiltà Cattolica, véritable ‘laboratoire’ de la pensée catholique italienne, l’étude de Jan Nelis montre que l’Église catholique poursuivait d’abord un agenda propre, celui des dogmes et du pouvoir des catholiques : leur identité, en tant que groupe, fut autant définie par inclusion que par exclusion, et donc dans un rapport souvent complexe à l’‘Autre’. Mobilisant les questions d’identité italienne et ‘romaine’, de colonialisme, de racisme, d’antisémitisme ou encore de religion politique, l’auteur analyse la trajectoire du catholicisme italien de 1919 aux années 1950 et identifie la montée en puissance d’une notion hybride de religiosité et d’italianité qui allait servir à étayer la cohésion entre mondes catholique et national.
The papers presented in this volume analyse the many ways in which the Vatican, national Churches... more The papers presented in this volume analyse the many ways in which the Vatican, national Churches and individual catholics dealt with the rise of the extreme right in Europe throughout the 1920s, 1930s and early 1940s, from the end of the First World War, arguably one of the main catalysts of European interwar fascism, to the conclusion and immediate aftermath of the Second World War. While a number of papers focus primarily on theoretical, methodological issues pertaining to the book’s general theme, the majority of papers focus on either a country or region where a fascist movement or regime flourished between the wars and during the Second World War, and where there was a significant catholic presence in society. The various chapters cover almost the entire European continent – an endeavour that is unprecedented –, and they explore a wide range of relevant contexts and methodologies, thus further contributing to the general development of an interpretive ‘cluster’ model that incorporates a series of investigative matrixes, and that will hopefully inspire future research.
«Noi figli di Roma» Fascismo e mito della romanità 37 Note 56 Roma antica sui mari. Mussolini e l... more «Noi figli di Roma» Fascismo e mito della romanità 37 Note 56 Roma antica sui mari. Mussolini e la costruzione di un mito, di Andrea Giardina 61 Nostri mari 61 Cartagine a Perugia 67 Il mare del nostro scontento 75 Note 78 Roma in colonia. Resti e reperti della romanità nella Libia fascista, di Simona Troilo 85 'Resuscitare' la romanità attraverso i suoi resti 86 Fruizione e (auto)rappresentazione all'insegna dell'Urbe 94 Note 106
Nelis Jan, The ‘Memory of Rome’. Identitarian, Racist and Anti-Semitical romanità Discourse in It... more Nelis Jan, The ‘Memory of Rome’. Identitarian, Racist and Anti-Semitical romanità Discourse in Italy from the Fascist March on Rome until the Aftermath of the leggi razziali, in: Abendlanddiskurse und Erinnerungsraüme Europas im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Metzger Franziska/Sproll Heinz (eds.), Böhlau, Vienna-Cologne, 2022, p. 227-249
participated in Thursday night dinners, the so-called 'salons du jeudi'-participants were called ... more participated in Thursday night dinners, the so-called 'salons du jeudi'-participants were called Thursdayers or 'jeudistes'-, organized by the marchioness. Two central themes are at the heart of this study, i.e., religion and (geo)politics, shortly before, during and after the First World War. Notably in the light of the marchioness' 'soft power' over political and intellectual life, a closer look at her opinions, as well as at those of one of her closest friends and allies, hopefully will contribute to a better understanding of European high society during this particularly crucial era in European and global, history.
The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the... more The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the Roman Empire to Contemporary Imperialism’, held in Brussels at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Academia Belgica in Rome (September 11-13, 2014). At the heart of the conference was the ‘reception’, ‘Nachleben’ or ‘permanence’ of the Roman Empire, of an idea and a historical paradigm which since classical Antiquity has supported the most widespread claims to obtain and consolidate power. The volume’s focus is on culture in a broad sense, i.e. including besides the arts, philosophy, religion and, most importantly, discourse. As such, a wide array of themes are subjected to academic scrutiny. Whereas the main focus is on Europe and North America, some contributors also reach out towards non-Western contexts, whether or not directly related to the Roman example. A theoretical and sociological dimension is also added thanks to the discussion on methodological issues. More specifically, the following question(s) receive particular attention: what is our position as researchers, embedded in a contemporary, often Western, democratic and capitalist context; what about the notion of empire itself, its constituent elements and the kind of ideological prerogatives to which it is generally subjected; in other words, apart from the many historical variants and instances of reception of empire, through which filters can, and inevitably do, we approach this topic? A question that has become ever more pregnant since the beginning of the twenty-first century, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the events of September 11, which have revivified what could be called American ‘imperialism’, and at a time when an essentially economic variant, driven by ‘emerging’ powers such as China, has increasingly contested existing power structures. In light of such meta-historical awareness, this book touches as much on the nature of the Roman Empire as it does on its historical legacy and, more importantly so, on who claims the latter inheritance throughout the most diverse epochs. By discussing some highly contrasting views upon this topic, participants explore issues that are of fundamental importance to the writing, not only of cultural history, but also of history itself.
The idea of a heritage from ancient Rome, or romanità, was central to Italian fascism. This artic... more The idea of a heritage from ancient Rome, or romanità, was central to Italian fascism. This article analyzes, in the 44 volumes of his Opera Omnia, Il Duce Mussolini’s discourse on romanità, focusing on key themes such as empire, historical characters and the grandeur of archaeological remains. It links Mussolini’s discourse of romanità to his discourse on the future, and to the idea of fascism as a political religion. It shows that Mussolini’s historical knowledge was largely overstated and that it was mainly the omnipresence of romanità, rather than its specific features, which can be defined as central to this notion.
La présente étude s’attache à l’analyse de la symbiose entre fascisme et catholicisme au sein de ... more La présente étude s’attache à l’analyse de la symbiose entre fascisme et catholicisme au sein de l’Istituto di Studi Romani (ISR). Il s’agira de montrer que l’ISR, suivant les exigences du régime et celles du Vatican, jouait un ‘double jeu’, politique et religieux. Ce double jeu est visible, non seulement à travers les activités et les contacts de l’ISR mais aussi dans les publications, c’est-à-dire dans le discours qui, bien que d’une certaine qualité scientifique, est de nature hautement propagandiste. Nous nous baserons sur les nombreuses publications de l’ISR, ainsi que sur des sources d’archives inédites, comprenant certains documents conservés à l’Istituto et dans les archives privées de la famille du fondateur, Carlo Galassi Paluzzi ; les contacts de ce dernier avec d’importantes personnalités politiques et, surtout, ecclésiastiques de l’entre-deux-guerres se révèleront particulièrement importants.
The present paper treats a particular manifestation of contemporary myth-making, the myth of ‘Rom... more The present paper treats a particular manifestation of contemporary myth-making, the myth of ‘Romanness’ known as romanità, which since the end of antiquity has often been viewed as a cornerstone of Italian identity; at times this myth has taken on particular importance, for example during the Renaissance period, and also under fascism. In the years between 1922 to 1943, this myth was utilised as a means of portraying contemporary Italy, centred around Rome as the capital, as a direct and privileged heir of Late Republican and Early Imperial antiquity, a period in which such ‘Roman’ qualities as combativeness, greatness and determination were exemplified. In this instance, romanità, in a very real sense, acted as a full-blown ‘myth of origin’. Whereas in general, the myth of Rome has been the subject of extensive and expertly-wrought analyses, in the case of the Italian fascist reception of Roman antiquity, there are various facets of the way in which romanità affected Italian society during the ventennio fascista - the twenty years during which fascism was in power, from 1922 until 1943 - that still await exploration. In this context, clarification is still lacking regarding the overall significance of the myth within a society which was not only steeped in a traditional religious, Catholic heritage, but was also being confronted with a regime that steadily and increasingly nurtured its own sacral outlook and tendencies, eventually developing into a fully-fledged ‘political religion’. In light of the above observations, this paper analyses the way in which the myth of Rome, omnipresent in fascist culture and even more so within its propaganda, came to be reflected in Italian Catholic opinion. We will engage in a close reading of the widely distributed Catholic newspaper L’Avvenire d’Italia, focusing particularly on the 1930s, a period where the fascist regime enjoyed a heightened popular consensus. In the following section, we start with a brief discussion of the concept of political religion within the context of Italian fascism, followed by a more generalised discussion of romanità in its many manifestations; the paper ends with an analysis of the latter phenomenon’s presence in the pages of L’Avvenire d’Italia.
On February 11, 2013, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, in a near unprecedented move that took his audie... more On February 11, 2013, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, in a near unprecedented move that took his audience and the world largely by surprise, announced that he would abdicate as pope Benedict XVI. Speculation as to who was to become the successor to the one that would henceforth be known as pope 'emeritus' immediately started, until on March 13, an Argentinian cardinal of Italian descent, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected as pope Francis, to the surprise of many. Whereas the image of his predecessor was that of a stern and rather timid theologian, this can hardly be said of papa Bergoglio, who from his very accession has been heralded a renovator and a 'modern' pope, in many ways the opposite of his decidedly conservative, yet at the same time 'postmodern' predecessor. Two years have passed. To many, they have been years of revivification and progress. However, it can also be argued that there has been above all a change in tone and style, rather than in substance. As always, veritas in medio stat.
Dans le fascisme italien, l’idée de la romanité, c’est-à-dire d’un héritage idéologique de l’anti... more Dans le fascisme italien, l’idée de la romanité, c’est-à-dire d’un héritage idéologique de l’antiquité romaine, était une notion centrale dans la volonté de création d’une identité fasciste. La romanité a déjà été l’objet de nombreuses études générales, ainsi que d’études sur, entre autres, l’importance de l’archéologie, de la philologie, de l’histoire de l’antiquité, du cinéma et de la symbolique ‘romaine’ sous le ventennio fasciste. Par contre, les thèmes et le caractère religieux et mythique de la romanité n’ont jusqu’à présent presque jamais, ou pas suffisamment, été relevés. C’est pour remédier à ce vide que nous présentons cette recherche sur le mythe de la romanité au sens propre, c’est-à-dire que nous situerons la romanité dans le fascisme vu comme une sorte de religion politique moderne avec ses propres rituels et mythes. Nous commencerons par une courte analyse de ce concept de religion politique, pour ensuite illustrer de quelle façon le mythe de la romanité contribuait à ce caractère hautement éthéré, quasiment religieux, du discours auto-référentiel fasciste. Dans un second temps, nous illustrerons, sur un plan encore général, la façon dont la religion chrétienne, l’autre ‘mythe’ contemporain en Italie, était insérée dans la propagande de la romanité. Nous terminerons alors par une étude de textes concernant trois des thèmes centraux de la romanité fasciste: l’impérialisme romain, l’importance de Virgile et l’importance d’Auguste. Dans ces textes, nous relèverons non seulement les références à la religion chrétienne, mais aussi, le cas échéant, le discours hautement ‘religieux’ développé pour parler de certains aspects de l’antiquité.
Dans cet article, nous nous proposons de présenter l’état des recherches concernant la romanité f... more Dans cet article, nous nous proposons de présenter l’état des recherches concernant la romanité fasciste dans toutes ses manifestations reconnues jusqu’à présent. Ainsi, nous parlerons d’abord des études ‘générales,’ qui depuis la fin des années 1970 ont commencé à découvrir le sujet. Ces études analysent généralement la nature et la valeur propagandiste de la romanité (la création d’une identité nationale). En deuxième lieu seront présentées les études qui encadrent la romanité dans l’Italie préfasciste, c’est-à-dire dans l’Italie risorgimentale de l’unification. Ces études apportent un contrepoids aux visions que l’on pourrait qualifier d’‘unicistes’ (qui partent de l’unicité du fascisme et de la romanité fasciste), car elles placent la romanité dans une évolution à un certain degré naturelle, soulignant la continuité avec le passé proche. Ensuite, nous traiterons des études concernant la discipline des classiques sous le fascisme, dédiant particulièrement notre attention à la façon dont trois personnages, qui sous le régime fasciste fêtèrent leur anniversaire bimillénaire (Virgile, Horace et Auguste), furent relevés et insérés dans un discours fortement influencé par des besoins idéologiques. Puis nous regarderons les institutions principales qui ont contribué à la divulgation de la propagande de la romanité, surtout l’Istituto di Studi Romani. Après un survol des recherches en archéologie et de la façon dont cette dernière fut soumise à la volonté spectaculaire du régime fasciste, nous parlerons brièvement de la présence de la romanité dans le cinéma pendant le ventennio fasciste (la période d’environ 20 ans durant laquelle le fascisme fut au pouvoir en Italie). Pour finir, nous consacrerons alors la dernière partie de notre étude aux possibles pôles de recherche future: nous indiquerons certains aspects qui nécessitent un approfondissement et certains qui n’ont jamais été traités, ainsi que quelques nouvelles méthodes, points de vue et disciplines qui pourraient contribuer à une meilleure connaissance du phénomène.
The debate surrounding the relation between Hitler’s interest in architectural neo-classicism and... more The debate surrounding the relation between Hitler’s interest in architectural neo-classicism and his reception of antiquity has often proceeded from the assumption of a deep nostalgia for a (deeply mythicised) classical ‘Aryan’ past and an instinctive drive to use anti-modernist art for solely propagandistic ends. Whereas some have
attempted to invert this causal relationship, the present study situates Hitler’s artistic passion within his ‘biopolitical’ vision of the new Germany, cleansed of all that was deemed degenerate (entartet) and unassimilable within the national community (gemeinschaftsunfähig). Through an analysis of the Third Reich’s vast civic building programmes, which takes into account Hitler’s personal discourse on the ancient past, we will show how both elements, that is Hitler’s ‘modernised’ neo-classicism and his view on antiquity, can be seen as essentially complementary, and integral to his political programme. We will do so by firstly presenting an overview of the most typical examples of Hitler and Nazism’s use of an idiosyncratic version of neo-classically inspired civic architecture. After this we will focus on the Führer’s ‘artistic’ persona, both in the sense of his love for the arts, especially those referring to the formal language of antiquity, as in the sense of his biopolitical conception of Nazi life as a ‘work of art in progress’. Finally,
Hitler’s vision of artistic renaissance is located within a discourse of racial renewal which embraced the past and future within a this-worldly ‘eternity’.
This article introduces two little-known episodes of opposition against the Italian fascist regim... more This article introduces two little-known episodes of opposition against the Italian fascist regime undertaken by professor Ettore Ciccotti (1863-1939), whose career traversed both the world of academia and that of politics. In each of these instances, Ciccotti expressed a particularly explicit form of anti-fascism. The article focuses firstly on a close reading of Ciccotti’s Profilo di Augusto (1938), in which the author openly criticises the myth of Romanness or romanità, a myth that played a major role in the ideology of Mussolini’s regime. That analysis will be prefaced by a brief overview of the negative contemporary reception of this controversial volume, as evidenced by a review article published by the then pro-fascist Istituto di Studi Romani. Secondly, the article will address an episode that occurred seven years prior to the publication of the Profilo, when in 1931, Ciccotti refused to pledge the oath of allegiance to the fascist regime and its duce, although at this time the oath was compulsory for all academics. The reasons Ciccotti put forward for this refusal were remarkably similar to those he later used to justify his 1938 criticism of Roman emperor Augustus, and are clearly stated in a letter he addressed to the Ministero dell’Educazione Nazionale at the moment of that refusal. The combination of Ciccotti’s Profilo di Augusto and his earlier exculpatory letter provide us with a remarkable insight into the thinking of this intellectual politician –Ciccotti was also a senator- whom, although confronted with the omnipresence of fascism, consistently opposed the cultural and ideological presumptions of the regime.
In the following article we will illustrate some of the most actual and fertile tendencies in the... more In the following article we will illustrate some of the most actual and fertile tendencies in the study of Italian fascism and of its relationship to culture. We will start off from the viewpoint that fascism in Italy succeeded in obtaining a high degree of popular support. Following Renzo De Felice, it could be argued that mass consenso (consensus) was crucial to Mussolini’s survival. Presenting itself as the only choice for the new Italy, fascism did thus in a very real sense reach a certain degree of –albeit unstable- gramscian egemonia (hegemony). The latter was in its turn the consequence not only of the use of force, but also of a careful orchestration of public life and, on a higher level, of aesthetics, of culture. Hence, in a second part of our study, we will turn to some of the most interesting, so-called ‘culturalist’, studies of fascist, mostly visual, culture. We will conclude with an analysis of Italian fascism as a form of secular myth, as a political religion in which the mentioned fascist aesthetics also played a crucial role.
Avec la présente étude, nous avons l'intention d'aborder le sujet de l'héritage identitaire de la... more Avec la présente étude, nous avons l'intention d'aborder le sujet de l'héritage identitaire de la Rome antique par le fascisme italien dans sa globalité, en proposant quelques pistes de lecture qui pourraient inspirer la recherche dans ce domaine. Après quelques suggestions se situant au niveau thématique et méthodologique, nous allons plus précisément, après une discussion sur la nature mythique, totalitaire et moderne de la religion politique fasciste, développer certains aspects du mythe de Rome dans ce contexte précis. Il s'agira de relever, dans les différentes manifestations de ce mythe, des éléments illustrant l'amplitude de ce dernier concept, qui fut l'un des constituants majeurs de l'idéologie fasciste, ou en tout cas de sa culture.
Cet exposé analyse la vision mussolinienne de l’antiquité (surtout romaine) jusqu’en 1915, c’est-... more Cet exposé analyse la vision mussolinienne de l’antiquité (surtout romaine) jusqu’en 1915, c’est-à-dire pendant la période ‘non-fasciste’, quand le futur duce développa un discours qui de ce point de vue était encore très hétérogène, à la fois précurseur du mythe fasciste de la romanità, et contestation de ce dernier. Nous montrerons que l’antiquité était partie intégrante d’une certaine ‘culture générale’, mais qu’elle n’avait pas encore toutes les fonctions et la valeur pour ainsi dire ‘formatives’ et ‘exemplaires’ qu’elle allait acquérir à partir de la Première Guerre Mondiale. À part le caractère hautement religieux et mythifiant de son discours en général, ainsi que de sa vision sur l’antiquité en particulier, Mussolini insistait aussi sur les conséquences néfastes que la religion chrétienne aurait eues pour l’Empire Romain, une situation qu’il voyait clairement reflétée dans le présent. Finalement, et malgré le caractère quelque peu éclaté de la notion de romanité mussolinienne, il est possible d’y rencontrer des traces du discours fasciste sur la romanità, et du ‘modernisme’ présent dans ce dernier, ainsi que des thèmes impensables sous le fascisme, comme l’œuvre du poète Ovide et le dolce far niente d’Horace.
This paper offers a close reading of the discourse on Italian fascism within the authoritative It... more This paper offers a close reading of the discourse on Italian fascism within the authoritative Italian Jesuit periodical La Civiltà Cattolica. The author shows that, when confronted with the fascist movement, La Civiltà Cattolica made no moves to oppose the regime, instead positioning itself so as to negotiate with and accommodate the fascist rhetoric. This decision was driven in part by the close alignment between the politics of Catholicism and fascism, and further fostered by the absence of a viable alternative political power.
The essay also illustrates the manner in which Catholic intellectuals intuitively perceived some aspects of fascist totalitarianism and the ‘sacralisation of politics’ as threatening, particularly when confronted with manifestations of what was termed ‘political heresy’, along with certain features of fascist associationalism. However, despite their concerns no explicit rupture between Church and regime ever eventuated; on the contrary, some accounts imply an intended merger, however unstable it may have proven, between the ‘religious’ and ‘totalitarian’ goals of both parties.
Among the many ‘founding myths’ of fascism such as those regarding its relationship to the First ... more Among the many ‘founding myths’ of fascism such as those regarding its relationship to the First World War, one element stood out as key to both its quest for absolute dominion over the Italian peninsula and its historically based self-concept and representation: the idea of present-day Italy as incarnating the spirit and virtuousness of Roman (late Republican and early Imperial) antiquity, creating the image of a Terza Roma, of a ‘third’, fascist Rome. This ‘Romanness’ or, in Italian, romanità, is at the heart of the present paper, which offers a general analysis of some of the central characteristics of the fascist use of the myth and idea of Rome. It firstly situates romanità, one of the main myths on which Mussolini’s so-called fabbrica del consenso relied for more than twenty years, in the context of the study of fascism as a political religion. After this overall treatment of the most characteristic features of romanità, the myth of Rome is linked to recent scholarship on the modern nature of fascism (and nazism). This proposed ‘fascist modernism’, already briefly illustrated in the first part of the paper (fascist architecture and aesthetics), is traced in the activities and inner functioning of the Istituto di Studi Romani, a pivotal institution in the development of the myth and cult of Rome under fascism. Finally, it also uses the Istituto to highlight a feature that is often neglected in the study of the fascist use of Rome, namely the role of traditional, catholic -- as opposed to fascism as a political religion -- religion.
also online at https://journals.openedition.org/anabases/
see also online at https://journals.openedition.org/anabases/
see also, for the journal online, https://journals.openedition.org/anabases/
El resultado final de este libro es un relato apasionante que nos sitúa frente a un ejercicio his... more El resultado final de este libro es un relato apasionante que nos sitúa frente a un ejercicio historiográfico donde lo microsocial se transforma en el espejo a partir del cual podemos mirar la sociedad, no sólo con un objetivo contextual, sino para comprender las relaciones sociales que se construyen e ir de esa manera recorriendo los devenires de los sujetos sociales en el intrincado y sinuoso camino de la historia social de nuestro país.
This paper analyses the way in which under the Italian fascist regime central aspects of the rela... more This paper analyses the way in which under the Italian fascist regime central aspects of the relationship religion-politics were perceived from a clerical viewpoint. It does so through a focus on the discourse developed by the Italian Jesuitical periodical La Civiltà Cattolica, which, together with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, is largely considered as the Vatican's un-official, intellectual spokesperson. Our particular approach is based on the most recent findings in the study of Italian fascism as a form of secular, political religion, as well as by scholarship on the 'politicisation' of traditional, Catholic religion.
Mussolini ambieerde het ideaal van wat hij de 'totalitaire Staat' noemde, een Staat waarin alle c... more Mussolini ambieerde het ideaal van wat hij de 'totalitaire Staat' noemde, een Staat waarin alle componenten in harmonie functioneerden: alles bestond in en vóór de Staat, niks bestond buiten de Staat. Deze situatie betrof ook de kunsten, inclusief het theater. Dit diende zich aan de tijdsgeest aan te passen. Gezien het eigenlijke onderwerp van deze studie de analyse is van een aantal bewerkingen van het leven van Julius Caesar, zal ik aanvankelijk een licht werpen op de fascistische ideologie van de romanità of 'Romeinsheid.' Deze kwam er grofweg op neer dat men de Italiaanse, fascistische identiteit trachtte vorm te geven door een beroep te doen op de idee van de 'erfenis' van het antieke Rome en de deugden die aan dit laatste werden verbonden. In een tweede fase zal ik dan mijn aandacht richten op de wijze waarop Caesar onder het fascisme werd in scène gezet, om af te sluiten met een methodologische bespiegeling De fascistische romanità is wat Eric Hobsbawm een 'invented tradition' zou noemen. Ze stelde het fascistische Italië voor als rechtstreekse erfgenaam van de klassieke Oudheid. Reeds
The following paper is inspired by my work on Italian fascism and the myth of the socalled romani... more The following paper is inspired by my work on Italian fascism and the myth of the socalled romanità or Romanness. This was the subject of my PhD thesis, which I defended in May 2006 at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Hence, the first part will largely be a description of my thesis, a sort of genesis of my research in Belgium and above all in Rome the last four years. At the end, I will also go into the wider context of my work, that is the study of Italian fascism and more specifically of the role of culture in the creation of and the will to popular consensus. Fascism was in a way a political religion, and the myth of romanità was a key notion in fascist culture.
Reception of (Roman) empire through the ages.
Il convegno è articolato in quattro sessioni, ciascuna delle quali focalizza e definisce precisi ... more Il convegno è articolato in quattro
sessioni, ciascuna delle quali
focalizza e definisce precisi ambiti
di riferimento.
Dopo una serie di relazioni di
carattere generale, il cui scopo è di
argomentare e presentare il quadro
storico d’insieme, seguiranno
interventi dedicati a specifici aspetti.
Lors de cette journée d’étude, les participants analyseront la dynamique très particulière des sa... more Lors de cette journée d’étude, les participants
analyseront la dynamique très particulière des
salons comme lieux d’échange entrecroisant
savoirs et pouvoirs, mêlant plusieurs disciplines
et approches (littéraire, politique, artistique, historique,
sociologique, économique, sciences de
gestion) et touchant à des thèmes tels que la
religion, la politique, les marchés, le genre,
l’éducation...
La plupart des études dédiées aux salons mondains
se focalisent sur des écrivains et académiciens
; en revanche, on inclura une grande
variété d’acteurs appartenant aux mondes académique,
politique, culturel, artistique, économique
et même militaire. On pourra par
exemple envisager les salons parisiens de la
Marquise Arconati-Visconti, de Madame de
Martel de Janville (‘Gyp’) et de Madame Arman
de Caillavet, ou encore le salon bruxellois de la
famille Errera, autant de lieux dans lesquels se
nouent des alliances, circulent des connaissances,
prennent forme des projets, se mobilisent
des groupes, etc.
On s’intéressera donc aux contenus des discussions,
à la manière dont chacun y affichait
ou exerçait son pouvoir, aux réseaux qui s’y formaient
et à leur implication sur d’autres scènes,
comme dans l’Affaire Dreyfus ou dans le mécénat
public ; on envisagera aussi leur rôle
émancipatoire quant au rôle des femmes ou à
l’emprise sociétale de la religion. Enfin, l’étude
des salons mondains mènera à quelques
considérations concernant le phénomène d’upward
social mobility, dans la mesure où ils regroupaient
des personnes provenant de milieux
sociaux divers dont l’appartenance au monde
intellectuel était vécue différemment.
Les participants seront invités à dépasser la dimension
purement bio-prosopographique pour
se rattacher à l’histoire des sociabilités intellectuelles,
ainsi qu’à celle des réseaux intellectuels
transnationaux. Ils interrogeront la notion d’« intellectuel
» et la relation entre les champs du savoir
et du pouvoir, une relation sans cesse
reformulée et renégociée.
Si le mot salon désigne ces réunions mondaines
dans lesquelles se forment les réseaux
de savoirs et pouvoirs, ils désignent également
des rassemblements temporaires contemporains
du microcosme d’une industrie, d’un
champ artistique ou d’un marché. La sociologie
économique, l’économie géographique et les
sciences des organisations ont développé des
approches et concepts permettant d’étudier
ces événements tantôt qualifiés de « configurateurs
de champs » ou de « clusters temporaires ».
Les salons et conventions contemporains participent
à reconfigurer les hiérarchies dans des
secteurs donnés, construire les marchés, structurer
les industries, faire circuler des connaissances
ou organiser la mondialisation. Des
présentations couvrant les principaux courants
d’analyse des salons viendront ainsi compléter
la journée d’étude en comparant ces événements
contemporains avec les salons mondains
des XIXe-XXe siècles et en montrant
comment ces regroupements participent à organiser
des champs spécifiques.
This conference will serve a double purpose: on the one hand participants will present research o... more This conference will serve a double purpose: on
the one hand participants will present research
on the general theme of the relationship between
Catholicism and fascism in Europe in the period
1918-45; on the other hand the discussion will
be taken to a theoretical level. Participants will
cover a number of geographical contexts which
is unprecedented in a conference of this size.
The final aim is to further develop an interpretive
‘cluster’ model that will incorporate a series of
investigative matrixes, thus inspiring future
research. Published as: Nelis Jan/Morelli Anne /Praet Danny (eds.), Catholicism and Fascism in Europe 1918-1945, 2015, Olms, Hildesheim-Zürich-New York (418 pp.).
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My bibliography (only published materials)
research report on religion and secularism in the EU since 2014
The Foundation of Contemporary Memory is soliciting original and unpublished contributions for th... more The Foundation of Contemporary Memory is soliciting original and unpublished contributions for the 15th issue of her peer-reviewed journal Cahiers de la Mémoire contemporaine. The Cahiers publishes historical, cultural or sociological analyses on the history of Jews in Belgium, as well as primary sources presentations, book reviews, methodological reflections and biographical portraits. Main subjects dealt with are: the various migration waves to or from Belgium, social structures, socialization processes, Jewish resistance, hidden children, religious life, relation with Israel, reconstruction of Jewish life in post-war Belgium... Articles on related topics may be accepted.