Disability, emotions and literature from positivism to fascism

Abstract

The paper explores the ways in which disabled persons were represented in Italy between the end of the XIX century and the fascist era in some of the most important children’s literature, school textbooks and magazines, paying particular attention to the adjectives used to described them, thus seeing which emotions were stirred in readers. With regard to physical deformity, whereas in adult literature the prevailing emotions seem to have been loathing and disgust, the feelings elicited by children’s literature – such as the book Heart (De Amicis 1886) – were pity and solidarity. Concerning the magazines, secular ones associated with private institutes for the disabled (e.g. Il nuovo Presagio by the Pious Institute for rickets sufferers in Milan) stimulated philanthropic feelings among possible donors. Differently, the Catholic magazines (e.g. Giulio Tarra published by the Institute for deaf-mutes and La Beneficenza by the Institute for mentally impaired, both from Milan) highlighted the mocking and contempt disabled children had to endure. Either a response of secular solidarity or Christian charity was urged, both in preaching tones. A different emphasis emerged with WW1. Propaganda both during and after the war depicted the wounded body as possessing the highest level of dignity. This idea was stressed in both schoolbooks and children’s literature and children born disabled were also afforded a new respect. Consequently, we will show how disabled children and the war invalids were depicted in schoolbooks of the 1930s, stressing their dignity and avoiding paternalistic language, instead replacing it with fascist and nationalistic rhetoric.