Comic Fascism: Ideology, Catholicism, and Americanism in Italian Children’s Periodicals: Studies in Comics and Cartoons
Autor Zane Elwarden Limba Engleză Paperback – 25 iul 2025
Comics in Italy—produced by Fascists, conservatives, Catholics and, after World War II, youth groups on the political left—promoted competing yet sometimes convergent visions for Italian society to children in the first half of the twentieth century. In Comic Fascism, Zane Elward dives deep into the archives to reveal how Italian comics reflected transformations within Italian society during Fascist rule (1922–1945) and how conservative and Catholic circles were entangled with Mussolini’s agenda, normalizing and promoting it through their own periodicals. At the same time, he offers new interpretations of American comics, demonstrating that despite Italian suspicion of US culture, these comics often aligned with Fascism and were coopted by its proponents. Elward also identifies the persistence of Fascist political ideas after the fall of the Fascist state and highlights growing tensions between the right and the left in the lead up to the Cold War. Ultimately, Elward broadens previous temporal and cultural frames to offer fresh insights into the origins and long tail of Fascist indoctrination and how it remained at the heart of the ongoing quest to redefine Italian society.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9780814259528
ISBN-10: 0814259529
Pagini: 232
Ilustrații: 20 b&w images
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 mm
Editura: Ohio State University Press
Colecția Ohio State University Press
Seria Studies in Comics and Cartoons
ISBN-10: 0814259529
Pagini: 232
Ilustrații: 20 b&w images
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 mm
Editura: Ohio State University Press
Colecția Ohio State University Press
Seria Studies in Comics and Cartoons
Recenzii
“Elward traces how comics became a contested space in the education of Italy’s youth during the Fascist period and early postwar years. The first of its kind in the anglophone market, Comic Fascism shows how Fascist cultural policies were influenced by different voices within conservative, Catholic, and nationalist circles and fills a distinct gap in the field.” —Guido Bonsaver, author of America in Italian Culture: The Rise of a New Model of Modernity, 1861–1943
“Comic Fascism contributes to the growing interest among historians of modern Italy in exploring ideological continuities and ruptures between Fascist and Republican Italy. The comics Elward considers exemplify the diverse (and contested) understandings of Fascist ideology and the society it was aiming to build.” —Eden K. McLean, author of Mussolini’s Children: Race and Elementary Education in Fascist Italy
Notă biografică
Zane Elward is Assistant Professor of History at Marian University. A historian of Italy and the US, he researches popular culture, political movements, nationalism, and dictatorships.
Extras
Italy in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s navigated a contested political and ideological space as the nation underwent political and social transformations. Even under the Fascist regime, Fascists, Catholics, and conservatives contested what Fascist Italy should look like as a society. The ideological struggle was expanded to rival political positions by the transition to democracy following World War II. This contestation manifested itself in political debates, academic discussions, and cultural production. Questions abounded as to how best to represent and advocate visions for society to those who would one day lead it: children and adolescents.
As comics rose in popularity during this first half of the twentieth century, intellectuals and artists became involved in utilizing comics to tell the stories of the Italian nation and relay social norms and values to children. The debates, conferences, and policies surrounding comics in children’s periodicals demonstrate the importance that political organizations placed on the youth in shaping the future, as did the involvement of numerous diverse sociopolitical circles. The comics industry of the 1930s and ’40s comprised publishers from conservative, Catholic, and Fascist orientations, and figures on the Left began printing comics after the Second World War. Periodicals featured Italian originals as well as popular stories imported from the United States. The stories within these periodicals reflected particular interpretations of Italian history, perspectives on gender and race, and visions of what it meant to be Italian, and the rivalry between periodicals to attract readers was a part of a wider effort to reach Italy’s youth.
Readers thus encountered a variety of models for modern society, and comics were integrated into the broader political debates on modernity, religion, gender, empire, Americanization, Italian identity, and the meaning of Fascism. Because comics magazines were printed by a range of publishing houses associated with diverse sociopolitical positions, the stories offer insight into ideological entanglements and tensions between these positions. Ultimately, the many differences and tensions resulted in a superficial base for the Fascist regime that crumbled during the Second World War.
However, the comics from the 1920s to the mid-1940s examined in this study reveal significant points of commonality which smoothed the transition to the dictatorship and helped Fascism maintain power. Many studies of Italian comics during this era identify the fascistization of comics primarily from the late 1930s, but many comics periodicals printed Fascist stories or comics with themes that resonated with Fascist ideas much earlier. Similarly, archival documents reveal that the inclusion of these themes was not solely due to Fascist censorship and pressure, contrary to the interpretation often offered by scholars studying comics not published directly by the Fascist Party.
Indeed, it becomes clear that many nationalist and authoritarian-minded conservatives and Catholics were entangled in the Fascist cultural and political project, whatever hesitations and differences they maintained. Conservatives and Catholics tended to be less radical and violent than Fascists but desired to raise Italy to the status of a world power, feared parliamentary democracy had weakened Italy, and believed socialism needed to be resisted by any means. Mussolini attracted these more traditional fellow travelers by presenting Fascism as an alternative that could counter their common enemies, defend Italian traditions, and rejuvenate the nation. The commonalities between these positions, along with Fascist coercion, meant that differences were expressed as contestation within the Fascist parameters of discourse, rather than in opposition to the regime. In any case, the depiction of Fascist values within these comics depicted an image of compatibility between the Fascist state, on the one hand, and Catholics and conservatives, on the other.
The societal models portrayed in these comics magazines were not static but reflected the phases of the Fascist regime, the changing international context, and the social transformations of the first half of the twentieth century. Analysis of the production of comics illustrates the strategies employed by Fascist cultural institutions as they sought to first appropriate and then tightly control cultural production; the evolving international context is at the center of these shifting policies. After the regime fell, comics continued to offer commentary on the meaning of the Fascist past, the ongoing social transformations, and aspirations for the future. As the political and civil sphere expanded in the postwar era, comics magazines reveal the growing divisions between the anti-Fascist coalition as forces on the political Right and Left divide with the emerging Cold War. This study demonstrates how various publishers responded to and navigated the complex web of formal and informal censorship in the struggle to bring their visions for Italian society to young readers. Both during and after the Fascist regime, reaching children remained a priority for those involved in political and civil life; publishers considered comics a means to do so.
As comics rose in popularity during this first half of the twentieth century, intellectuals and artists became involved in utilizing comics to tell the stories of the Italian nation and relay social norms and values to children. The debates, conferences, and policies surrounding comics in children’s periodicals demonstrate the importance that political organizations placed on the youth in shaping the future, as did the involvement of numerous diverse sociopolitical circles. The comics industry of the 1930s and ’40s comprised publishers from conservative, Catholic, and Fascist orientations, and figures on the Left began printing comics after the Second World War. Periodicals featured Italian originals as well as popular stories imported from the United States. The stories within these periodicals reflected particular interpretations of Italian history, perspectives on gender and race, and visions of what it meant to be Italian, and the rivalry between periodicals to attract readers was a part of a wider effort to reach Italy’s youth.
Readers thus encountered a variety of models for modern society, and comics were integrated into the broader political debates on modernity, religion, gender, empire, Americanization, Italian identity, and the meaning of Fascism. Because comics magazines were printed by a range of publishing houses associated with diverse sociopolitical positions, the stories offer insight into ideological entanglements and tensions between these positions. Ultimately, the many differences and tensions resulted in a superficial base for the Fascist regime that crumbled during the Second World War.
However, the comics from the 1920s to the mid-1940s examined in this study reveal significant points of commonality which smoothed the transition to the dictatorship and helped Fascism maintain power. Many studies of Italian comics during this era identify the fascistization of comics primarily from the late 1930s, but many comics periodicals printed Fascist stories or comics with themes that resonated with Fascist ideas much earlier. Similarly, archival documents reveal that the inclusion of these themes was not solely due to Fascist censorship and pressure, contrary to the interpretation often offered by scholars studying comics not published directly by the Fascist Party.
Indeed, it becomes clear that many nationalist and authoritarian-minded conservatives and Catholics were entangled in the Fascist cultural and political project, whatever hesitations and differences they maintained. Conservatives and Catholics tended to be less radical and violent than Fascists but desired to raise Italy to the status of a world power, feared parliamentary democracy had weakened Italy, and believed socialism needed to be resisted by any means. Mussolini attracted these more traditional fellow travelers by presenting Fascism as an alternative that could counter their common enemies, defend Italian traditions, and rejuvenate the nation. The commonalities between these positions, along with Fascist coercion, meant that differences were expressed as contestation within the Fascist parameters of discourse, rather than in opposition to the regime. In any case, the depiction of Fascist values within these comics depicted an image of compatibility between the Fascist state, on the one hand, and Catholics and conservatives, on the other.
The societal models portrayed in these comics magazines were not static but reflected the phases of the Fascist regime, the changing international context, and the social transformations of the first half of the twentieth century. Analysis of the production of comics illustrates the strategies employed by Fascist cultural institutions as they sought to first appropriate and then tightly control cultural production; the evolving international context is at the center of these shifting policies. After the regime fell, comics continued to offer commentary on the meaning of the Fascist past, the ongoing social transformations, and aspirations for the future. As the political and civil sphere expanded in the postwar era, comics magazines reveal the growing divisions between the anti-Fascist coalition as forces on the political Right and Left divide with the emerging Cold War. This study demonstrates how various publishers responded to and navigated the complex web of formal and informal censorship in the struggle to bring their visions for Italian society to young readers. Both during and after the Fascist regime, reaching children remained a priority for those involved in political and civil life; publishers considered comics a means to do so.
Cuprins
Contents List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1 Fascism Infiltrates Comics: Il Corriere dei Piccoli and Il Giornale dei Balilla Chapter 2 The Comics Craze of the 1930s: How American Comics Became Anti-Fascist Chapter 3 Il Vittorioso: The Church Responds Chapter 4 Produced by Italians, for Italians: Autarky and Popular Culture Chapter 5 Comics at War: Uncertainty and Support in Comics during World War II Chapter 6 Sketching a New Society: Comics after Fascism Conclusion Fascism, Italy, Culture, and Comics Acknowledgments Bibliography Index
Descriere
Shows how Italian comics reflected the entanglement of conservatives and Catholics with the Fascist project and offers insight into the role of American comics in shaping Italian youth.