The meaning of monuments: remembering Italo Balbo in Italy and the United States
2019; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 24; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1017/mit.2019.12
ISSN1469-9877
Autores Tópico(s)Italian Literature and Culture
ResumoThis article examines the meaning of monuments in Italy and the United States (Chicago) dedicated to the Fascist gerarch Italo Balbo. A hugely popular personality in Fascist Italy, Balbo cemented his reputation in the early 1930s as the commander of mass-formation transatlantic flights to Brazil (1930-1931) and the United States (1933). Chicago’s monuments – a road (Balbo Drive) and a column (the ‘Balbo monument’) – are a legacy of Balbo’s triumphant arrival in the city in 1933. Italy’s monuments date from the postwar and contemporary periods. The article examines why Balbo Drive and the Balbo monument in Chicago have become more controversial over time, especially in recent decades, and why, despite calls for their removal, both remain. It contrasts the Chicago case with the situation in Italy where, since the 1990s, Balbo has been commemorated in numerous ways.
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