What is it about?
Many works have examined life under the Habsburgs in the Adriatic borderland (Millo, 2002), Adriatic irredentism (Reill, 2012), and the “fascistization” of the Adriatic region (Hametz, 2012). Others, instead, have focused on the second half of the twentieth-century and have studied the early years of the Cold War (De Castro, 1981, Rebel, 1988 Valdevit, 2004), the phenomena of ethno-political violence between Italians and “Slavs” (Pupo, 2005, Pirjevec, 2009) and the diplomatic process that led to Osimo (Bucarelli, 2008). More recently, scholars have extensively investigated the historical and political process that paralleled the affirmation of competing nationalisms across the Adriatic border (Cattaruzza, 2003, Worsdorfer, 2004, Rutar, 2013), as well as the issue of the exodus (Ballinger, 2002) and its public memory (D’Alessio, 2012, Verginella, 2008). None of them, however, have thoroughly analyzed the evolution of Italian nationhood in the Adriatic borderland and its changing political meaning from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1950s. This article is part of a special edition, “The Evolution of Italian Nationhood: Insight from the Adriatic Borderlands”, that attempts to fill this historical lacuna.
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Why is it important?
Based on a wide set of new archival sources this article offers the readers a comprehensive study of the state-led socio-political and cultural process that transformed the Adriatic borderland from a cosmopolitan into a national space. In particular, it analyzes the "Italianization" of the Adriatic border within public discourse and its changing territorial configuration through the thoughts, strategies, and actions of a wide network of political and social actors. My manuscript undertakes the examination of Adriatic irredentism both as an intellectual and popular movement. It suggests that while this movement initially strived to affirm the multi-national nature of the Adriatic space, it later merged within the broader nationalist mainstream that vouched for its exclusive Italian cultural identity and Italian territorial sovereignty.
Perspectives
This article, along with the other articles that are included into the special edition and will be published with Cambridge University Press later this year, extensively studies the complex and multi-faceted historical process that witnessed both the affirmation and demise of Italian nationhood across the Adriatic borderland. In examining the nationalization of the Adriatic it shows that this multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and heterogeneous cultural space experienced years of political violence and ethnic tension yet ultimately returned to its traditional role as a bridge between peoples and cultures. In face of recent events that further demonstrate the fluidity of the borders, the authors invite scholars of nationalism to a broader reflection on the reckless use of nationalist rhetoric, the costs of nationalizing the public space, and the aftermath of locally constructed memories.
Dr Fabio Capano
American University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From a cosmopolitan to a fascist land: Adriatic irredentism in motion, Nationalities Papers, August 2017, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/00905992.2017.1344626.
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