- Marzio Zanantoni
- XII (2017), 2
- Saggio
My article aims to recall some historical-anthropological notes by Gramsci. He certainly grasped the double soul – both modern and ancient – of “Strapaese” that had a problematic relation with Fascism. It is the motif of the homeland as “country”, a crucial topic of the twentieth-century modernity. Gramsci did not live enough to see the rise of a new group of young writers during the postwar period, that rediscover the “country-homeland” by portraying it as the centre of recovery, of memory and of community. It is in this democratic way of conceiving the “country – homeland” that the “strapaesana” legacy looses every fascist nuance and achieves a completely new meaning by politically positioning in the progressive area. Today, the reflection upon the national identity of Italian people takes place within a multi-ethnic society. In which research perspective could Gramsci still be helpful?
