Forging an Italian hero?
- Over the last two decades, Amedeo Guillet (1909–2010) has been turned into a public and military hero. His exploits as a guerrilla leader in Italian East Africa in 1941 have been exaggerated to forge a narrative of an honourable resistance against overwhelming odds. Thereby, Guillet has been showcased as a romanticized colonial explorer who was an apolitical and timeless Italian officer. He has been compared to Lawrence of Arabia in order to raise his international visibility, while his genuine Italian brand is perpetuated domestically. By elevating him to an official role model, the Italian Army has gained a focal point for military heroism that was also acceptable in the public memory as the embodiment of a ‘glorious’ defeat narrative.
| Author details: | Bastian Matteo SciannaGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/13507486.2018.1492520 |
| ISSN: | 1350-7486 |
| ISSN: | 1469-8293 |
| Title of parent work (English): | European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire |
| Subtitle (English): | The late commemoration of Amedeo Guillet (1909-2010) |
| Publisher: | Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |
| Place of publishing: | Abingdon |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of first publication: | 2019 |
| Publication year: | 2019 |
| Release date: | 2021/03/01 |
| Tag: | Amedeo Guillet; Italian East Africa; Italy; Second World War; collective memory; colonialism |
| Volume: | 26 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Number of pages: | 17 |
| First page: | 369 |
| Last Page: | 385 |
| Organizational units: | Philosophische Fakultät / Historisches Institut |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Publishing method: | Open Access / Bronze Open-Access |
| External remark: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe ; 152 |
