Realism in transition

This essay argues that the political and moral rejection of Fascism was prepared before 1943 by developments in the cultural sphere. Realist aesthetics were a main site of explorations that anticipated the Resistance's rethinking of Fascist conceptions of the self and humanity. The years 1941 a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Italianist 2017-09, Vol.37 (3), p.407-415
Main Author: Ben-Ghiat, Ruth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
cinema italiano
cultura
culture
Italian cinema
neorealism
neorealismo
Realism
Realismo
Roberto Rossellini
Seconda Guerra Mondiale
World War II
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Summary:This essay argues that the political and moral rejection of Fascism was prepared before 1943 by developments in the cultural sphere. Realist aesthetics were a main site of explorations that anticipated the Resistance's rethinking of Fascist conceptions of the self and humanity. The years 1941 and 1942 were particularly fertile ones for the appearance of realist films, criticism, photography, and literature that are often considered precursors of postwar neorealism but deserve attention in their own right. These texts stand today as indications of a collective search to verbalize and give form to complex sensations of transition and rupture that had been opened up by the war.
ISSN:0261-4340
1748-619X
DOI:10.1080/02614340.2017.1409307