Fascist Literature: Three Poetry Competitions in Fascist Italy

FascLit investigates the relationship between literature and totalitarianism by focusing on three literary prizes which took place in the 1930s in Fascist Italy: “Poeti del tempo di Mussolini”, “Cervia” and “Viareggio”.

While Mussolini never imposed predefined aesthetic criteria on art, he thought a new literature would rise spontaneously from living in a truly Fascist country.

What is common to the three prizes analysed is that they were controlled, directly or indirectly, by Galeazzo Ciano, Minister of Press and Propaganda from 1935 and from 1936 Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Thus, they represent a prominent and concrete case study for exploring how Fascist politicians tried to shape Italian culture and how artistic and personal ambitions sought to contribute to the creation of the Fascist civilisation Mussolini called for.

The aim of FascLit is indeed twofold: to reconstruct the history and dynamics of the three prizes and the networks of intellectuals involved based on archival work; to analyse the prize-winning works by combining the traditional tools of literary analysis with the cutting-edge tools of digital textometry to understand what “Fascist literature” meant for the Fascists.

Thanks to a multi-disciplinary approach at the intersection of history, sociology of culture and literature, this project aims to systematically analyse the three prizes, bringing together the political and institutional aspects and the cultural and literary dimension.

It will result in the publication of three peer-reviewed articles and in the creation of an online publicly and freely accessible portal on literary prizes during Fascism.

As such, FascLit will not only offer the first scientific study of an as yet little explored historical and literary product.

By analysing the concrete relationships between literature and politics in Fascist Italy, it will also pave the way for a broader understanding and further exploration of the interrelation between culture and totalitarianism.