Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy »

Guido Bonsaver is University Lecturer in Italian and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.

Guido Bonsaver is University Lecturer in Italian and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.

'Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy is an extremely well-researched and well-written study, brilliantly organized and concisely argued. Guido Bonsaver touches on a variety of fascinating topics, from Mussolini's personal role in literary production to the treatment of Jewish writers under the fascist regime. It is a pleasure to read.'

-Jacqueline Reich, Department of European Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Stony Brook University

List of Illustrations     xi
Acknowledgments     xiii
Abbreviations     xv
Introduction     3
Mussolini Takes the Helm, 1922-1933
Towards a New System     13
Book Censorship in Pre-Fascist Italy     13
Fascism in Power     18
Press Office versus Ministry of the Interior     21
Carrots, Sticks, and Charismatic Ruling     27
Taming Unfriendly Publishers: The Cases of Gobetti, Monanni, and Corbaccio     27
Self-Censorship and Business Deals: Arnoldo Mondadori     43
A Florentine 'Italianissimo': Attilio Vallecchi     54
The Censor and the Censored     58
Fascist Censor Supremo: Benito Mussolini     58
Guido da Verona: Censorship and Intimidation     75
On the Fringes of Fascism: Luigi Bartolini and Vitaliano Brancati     80
Literature from Abroad     87
Censorship Fascist Style, 1934-1939
From Press Office to Ministry of Popular Culture     95
The Dictator Dictates: The Mura Case of April 1934     95
Galeazzo Ciano at the Press Office     107
The Ministry for the Press and Propaganda, June 1935-May 1937     114
The Ministry of Popular Culture     120
Shaping ItalianLiterature     129
New Publishers in Town: Valentino Bompiani and Giulio Einaudi     129
The Excesses of Left-Wing Fascism: Elio Vittorini and Romano Bilenchi     140
Close but Not Too Close: Massimo Bontempelli and Alberto Moravia     150
Censorship and Theatre: Sem Benelli's Anti-Bourgeois Plays     158
Anti-Semitism and 'Cultural Reclamation'     169
From Hints to Facts: 1938     169
Attempting Book Reclamation     177
A Nation at War, 1940-1943
A Turn of the Screw     191
Alessandro Pavolini at the Ministry of Popular Culture     191
The Bonifica Becomes 'Public'     206
Censorship Denied     214
Foreign Fiction and Weak Autarky     221
The War on Translations and the Case of Bompiani's Americana     221
Keeping the Channels Open: Mondadori and Einaudi     230
Unfinished Business     237
Moravia, the Discriminato     237
What Happened to Vittorini's Conversazione in Sicilia?     241
Censoring Women's Writing: Gianna Manzini, Alba De Cespedes, and Paola Masino     252
Conclusion     261
Notes     267
Bibliography     373
Index     393