The paper examines the letters sent by several members of the Opera Nazionale Balilla to soldiers engaged in the war against Ethiopia (1935-1936), preserved at the Central State Archive. These unpublished sources are «valuable because they include experiences and emotions in the form in which they were expressed at the time and not only as they were remembered a posteriori» (Stargardt 2006, p. 19). The methodology is based on the historical-educational literature that has analyzed school writings: the stereotypical features of these texts are considered crucial for understanding totalitarian teaching practices in the primary school af- ter the 1934 reform of the syllabuses. This reform, indeed, fascistized the school «pushing it definitively to form the new fascist man» (Paciaroni 2019, p. 1005).
“Cari soldati d’Italia”. Lettere dei Balilla e delle Piccole Italiane ai combattenti della guerra etiopica (1935-1936)
Domenico Francesco Antonio Elia
2024-01-01
Abstract
The paper examines the letters sent by several members of the Opera Nazionale Balilla to soldiers engaged in the war against Ethiopia (1935-1936), preserved at the Central State Archive. These unpublished sources are «valuable because they include experiences and emotions in the form in which they were expressed at the time and not only as they were remembered a posteriori» (Stargardt 2006, p. 19). The methodology is based on the historical-educational literature that has analyzed school writings: the stereotypical features of these texts are considered crucial for understanding totalitarian teaching practices in the primary school af- ter the 1934 reform of the syllabuses. This reform, indeed, fascistized the school «pushing it definitively to form the new fascist man» (Paciaroni 2019, p. 1005).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
