The Wave of ’68. Portraits of Rebel Students in the Italian Press (original) (raw)
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Modern Italy, 2012
The decade spanning from 1968 to 1980, known also as the anni di piombo, is among the most difficult and traumatic periods in Italian post-war history. One of the most memorable years of this decade was 1977, when a new student movement stood up against the established order. The so-called Movement of ’77 manifested itself among others in Bologna, where it had a predominantly creative and joyful character. Nevertheless, the protests were violently struck down when left-wing student Francesco Lorusso was killed by police forces during clashes, resulting in an urban guerriglia. This incident worsened the relationship between the historical left and younger generations of (more radical) left-wing activists, and marked the beginning of the end of the Movement of ’77. The chapter on 1977 was, however, never really closed, and a ‘counter-memory’ has continued to divide the local community ever since. In this article, we shall see how different memory communities in Bologna have dealt with this ‘collective trauma’, focusing on the former Movement of ’77 and the way it has used public commemorative rituals to rebuild a collective identity for itself in subsequent years.
History of Education & Children’s Literature, 2015
This article discusses a collection of archival sources that I stumbled across while conducting research on issues of gender in Italian schools after World War II. The seven school journals considered here were published between 1973 and 1975, coinciding with the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Italy from the Nazi-Fascist Regime. This article considers their historical testimonies regarding the Italian Resistance, a popular movement against Nazi-Fascist oppression that took place between 1943 and 1945. These unique testimonies take the form of stories told to preschool children by their parents and grandparents, in schools in the North of Italy, specifically in the town of Reggio Emilia. The analysis of these exceptional documents reveals critical insights about how the past can be used in the service of the present to educate new generations.
Carte Italiane, 2011
In 1977, a new Italian student movement arose which turned itself explicitly against traditional left-wing parties and unions. In the university town of Bologna, a student and sympathiser of a former left-wing, extra-parliamentary group - Francesco Lorusso - was shot dead by police during clashes, on 11 March 1977. Surprisingly, a group of left-wing intellectuals who engaged more directly with social problems, stood up against the ruling Communist Party and the way it had handled and interpreted the incidents of March 1977. In this article I discuss the controversial relationship between these intellectuals and the hegemonic powers in Bologna.