Forming a National Identity

1
Forming a National Identity

• Collodis Pinocchio
• and
• De Amicis Cuore

2
Mass Migration

• From the second half of the 19th century through
  1984.
• 1888-1924.
• Almost 30 million Italians leave for the
  Americas, the European Union, Australia
• In the 1980s, a reversal of the pattern
  emigrants returning to Italy, and a strong
  immigration from countries outside the EU.

3
Italy as a nation

• Factionalized
• French in the South (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies)
• Spanish in the North (16th century)
• Austrians replace Spanish
• 1860 Garibaldi Mille
• 1861 Regno dItalia (Turin)
• 1870 Rome annexed (The 3rd Rome)

4
Immigration

• Italy has witnessed 3 forms of immigration
• internal (within),
• external (abroad, approx. 30 million to the
  Americas, Australia, EU),
• from other nations (principally extra EU, since
  mid 1980s, approx. 1 million legal
  "extracomunitari", who know how many illegal
  "clandestini").
• Problems of internal immigration is what is first
  brought to light by the Unification.

5
Unification

• M. d'Azeglio We have formed Italy, now we must
  form Italians.
• There existed previously
• a cultural nationalism (literature, the arts,
  political theory, families, thinkers),
• a political fragmentation (French, Spanish,
  Austrians, Papacy, the Savoia of Sardegna). To
  whom do the people of this new nation owe their
  allegiance?
• As well as linguistic diversification what
  language do we speak?

6
Formation of new Italians

• How? Through education of its new generation.
  Much debate about the value of public education.
  
• Two works particularly representative of the
  debate,
• one where school setting is less instructive than
  life's adventures--Pinocchio.
• the other where the school setting fosters the
  instruction of values (w/core subject matters are
  secondary, or used to serve the instruction of
  values)--Cuore.

7
Carlo Collodis Pinocchio

• The WORLD knows Pinocchio (1883) by Carlo
  Lorenzini Collodi (Firenze).
• Collodi was a somewhat prolific, active writer,
  though he passed as someone who was lazy and
  avoided work (!)
• Disney's Pinocchio is very different from
  Collodi's
• Pinocchio is a puppet when he goes to school.

8
Collodis Pinocchio

• Despite instruction that is given to him by "Blue
  Fairy," Pinocchio must make his mistakes, create
  mischief, in order to learn.
• The character is quite complex, and even though
  he finally agrees to become "a good boy," he has
  a hard time doing so, goes through more mischief,
  and finally "triumphs."
• He becomes a boy, though question remains whether
  he is more of a puppet in the end (goes to
  school, obeys his father, becomes "good"), than
  when he started out.

9
Lesson from Pinocchio

• The Fairy with the Touquoise Hair said, "Good
  boy, Pinocchio! Thanks to your good heart, I
  forgive you all the boyish pranks that you have
  done up until today. Boys who lovingly assist
  their own parents in their miseries and in their
  infirmities, are always worthy of great praise
  and great affection, even if they cannot be cited
  as models of obedience and of good conduct.
  Behave in the future, and you will be happy.

10
De Amicis Cuore

• Every ITALIAN knows Cuore (1886) by Edmondo de
  Amicis (Liguria)
• Takes place in Torino
• a. educare vs istruire (Mazzini)
• Cuore emphasizes values School is the place
  were values are formed (instruction not as
  important as values). Characters are
  one-dimensional, but each represents an essential
  component of the national character, all present
  in the hero, Enrico.

11
De Amicis Cuore

• b. anti-clericale (no mention of Church, or its
  holidays (!))
• c. Devotion to institutions of the state
• d. Patriotism and political instruction
• Vittorio Emanuele, Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi
  (himself an immigrant of sorts to So America)
• e. Title Cuore the Heart of a Boy. Meaning
  of cuore love, courage, compassion, generosity,
  patriotism, hard work, all those positive
  qualities that are represented in the characters.

12
De Amicis Cuore

• f. Final chapter, final letter (from Mother)
  La scuola è una madre.
• Just as the Fairy with the Turquoise hair was the
  teacher who taught Pinocchio the values needed to
  become a responsible adult, so, too, the maternal
  nurturing of the school will lead these boys to
  responsible adulthood.