Anna Ascenzi

Textbooks in Periods of Political Transition after the Second World War. Introduction

This special issue examines textbooks in countries undergoing political transition, change, and convulsion. The articles consider textbooks from countries shifting from one political regime to another, “at different speeds and with different priorities,” in the second half of the twentieth century. The articles raise a number of questions. What happens to textbooks during the intervals between one form of government and another? How does the information contained in textbooks change during these intervals of instability and uncertainty, and during the phases of the construction and consolidation of a new political regime? Contributors to this issue examine textbooks from four countries that are struggling to leave authoritarian regimes behind while endeavoring to build and consolidate democratic systems and societies. In their recent study of education in Central Asia, Pinar Akçali and Cennet Engin-Demir state that the curriculum challenges facing all societies in transition (including Kyrgyzstan) fall into three categories: “the challenge of pedagogy, the challenge of introducing the new subject matter and the challenge of teaching civics, social studies and history.” In keeping with this notion, we present in this volume a variety of textual genres with a focus on their didactical characteristics or on the teaching of particular topics, and an exposition of how these and other challenges are met. We thereby attempt to throw light on the impact of political transition on textbooks, and to interpret the roles assigned to educational texts in this particular context.

Introduction: Textbooks in Periods of Political Transition after the Second World War

This special issue examines textbooks in countries undergoing political transition, change, and convulsion. The articles consider textbooks from countries shifting from one political regime to another, “at different speeds and with different priorities,” in the second half of the twentieth century. The articles raise a number of questions. What happens to textbooks during the intervals between one form of government and another? How does the information contained in textbooks change during these intervals of instability and uncertainty, and during the phases of the construction and consolidation of a new political regime? Contributors to this issue examine textbooks from four countries that are struggling to leave authoritarian regimes behind while endeavoring to build and consolidate democratic systems and societies. In their recent study of education in Central Asia, Pinar Akçali and Cennet Engin-Demir state that the curriculum challenges facing all societies in transition (including Kyrgyzstan) fall into three categories: “the challenge of pedagogy, the challenge of introducing the new subject matter and the challenge of teaching civics, social studies and history.” In keeping with this notion, we present in this volume a variety of textual genres with a focus on their didactical characteristics or on the teaching of particular topics, and an exposition of how these and other challenges are met. We thereby attempt to throw light on the impact of political transition on textbooks, and to interpret the roles assigned to educational texts in this particular context.

Textbooks in Periods of Political Transition after the Second World War

This special issue examines textbooks in countries undergoing political transition, change, and convulsion. The articles consider textbooks from countries shifting from one political regime to another, “at different speeds and with different priorities,” in the second half of the twentieth century. The articles raise a number of questions. What happens to textbooks during the intervals between one form of government and another? How does the information contained in textbooks change during these intervals of instability and uncertainty, and during the phases of the construction and consolidation of a new political regime? Contributors to this issue examine textbooks from four countries that are struggling to leave authoritarian regimes behind while endeavoring to build and consolidate democratic systems and societies. In their recent study of education in Central Asia, Pinar Akçali and Cennet Engin-Demir state that the curriculum challenges facing all societies in transition (including Kyrgyzstan) fall into three categories: “the challenge of pedagogy, the challenge of introducing the new subject matter and the challenge of teaching civics, social studies and history.” In keeping with this notion, we present in this volume a variety of textual genres with a focus on their didactical characteristics or on the teaching of particular topics, and an exposition of how these and other challenges are met. We thereby attempt to throw light on the impact of political transition on textbooks, and to interpret the roles assigned to educational texts in this particular context.

PARA A EDUCAÇÃO PATRIÓTICA E NACIONAL DOS ITALIANOS NO EXTERIOR: A EDIÇÃO PÓSTUMA DO LIVRO DE LEITURA O PÁTRIA MIA DE LUIGI BERTELLI (VAMBA) E A SUA DIFUSÃO NO BRASIL

On the basis of a rich archival and printed documentation, the article reconstructs, for the first time, the genesis, the contents, the ideological and cultural trends and the particular editorial success, in Italy and abroad, of one of the most famous and long-running books for the Italian schools abroad published between the two world wars: O Patria mia...worthy nurse of the clear people, posthumous work by the famous writer for children Luigi Bertelli, better known by the majority of his young readers with the pseudonym Vamba. The Author dwells, in particular, on the original nationalist, but not Fascist, character of Vambas work, which, after the establishment in Italy of Mussolinis regime, was subjected, as required by the Florentine publisher Bemporad, to a sort of fascistization of the contents. Nevertheless, the work was never loved by the regime, so much that, in the mid-thirties, although its wide spread, for example, in the Italian schools in Brazil, it was replaced with texts ideologically and politically more in line with the fascist totalitarianism addresses.

A MISSÃO EDUCATIVA DA GERAÇÃO INTEMEDIÁRIA EM TEMPO DE GUERRA: TEXTOS PARA A ESCOLA E PARA A JUVENTUDE DE LUIGI BERTELLI ENTRE 1914 E 1918

The idea that the Great War represents a “watershed in the contemporary world” is by now well established in the history tout court (Gibelli, 1991, p. 43). On the other hand, the impact that the First World War conflict had on the schools of the time has not been as well investigated. A valuable source for exploring this field is undoubtedly those school books which were written andThe idea that the Great War represents a watershed in the contemporary world is by now well established in the history tout court (Gibelli, 1991). On the other hand, the impact that the First World War conflict had on the schools of the time has not been as well investigated. A valuable source for exploring this field is undoubtedly those school books which were written and published during this period. The article which we are presenting here starts from such considerations and focuses on the works of a prominent figure of Italian childrens literature, Luigi Bertelli, who wrote for schools and young people. The well-known author of the novel for young readers, Gian Burrasca, and founder of the children magazine, Il Giornalino della Domenica, wrote several books for schools and the young generation during the First World War. This article intends to examine these writings for the first time, in a careful and analytical way, not only to re-establish Bertellis position as an author and educator, but also to contribute to the understanding of the real pedagogy of war, those teachings promoted during the years of the First World War.

THE EDUCATIONAL MISSION OF THE MIDDLE GENERATION IN WARTIME: THE WRITINGS OF LUIGI BERTELLI FOR SCHOOLS AND YOUNG PEOPLE DURING THE YEARS 1914-1918

The idea that the Great War represents a “watershed in the contemporary world” is by now well established in the history tout court (Gibelli, 1991, p. 43). On the other hand, the impact that the First World War conflict had on the schools of the time has not been as well investigated. A valuable source for exploring this field is undoubtedly those school books which were written andThe idea that the Great War represents a watershed in the contemporary world is by now well established in the history tout court (Gibelli, 1991). On the other hand, the impact that the First World War conflict had on the schools of the time has not been as well investigated. A valuable source for exploring this field is undoubtedly those school books which were written and published during this period. The article which we are presenting here starts from such considerations and focuses on the works of a prominent figure of Italian childrens literature, Luigi Bertelli, who wrote for schools and young people. The well-known author of the novel for young readers, Gian Burrasca, and founder of the children magazine, Il Giornalino della Domenica, wrote several books for schools and the young generation during the First World War. This article intends to examine these writings for the first time, in a careful and analytical way, not only to re-establish Bertellis position as an author and educator, but also to contribute to the understanding of the real pedagogy of war, those teachings promoted during the years of the First World War.

Per l’educazione patriottica e nazionale degli italiani all’estero l’edizione postuma del libro di lettura o Patria mia di Luigi Bertelli (Vamba) e la sua diffusione in Brasile - For patriotic and national education of italians abroad: the posthumous edition of the book o patria mia of Luigi Bertelli (Vamba) and its dissemination in Brazil

On the basis of a rich archival and printed documentation, the article reconstructs, for the first time, the genesis, the contents, the ideological and cultural trends and the particular editorial success, in Italy and abroad, of one of the most famous and long-running books for the Italian schools abroad published between the two world wars: O Patria mia...worthy nurse of the clear people, posthumous work by the famous writer for children Luigi Bertelli, better known by the majority of his young readers with the pseudonym Vamba. The Author dwells, in particular, on the original nationalist, but not Fascist, character of Vambas work, which, after the establishment in Italy of Mussolinis regime, was subjected, as required by the Florentine publisher Bemporad, to a sort of fascistization of the contents. Nevertheless, the work was never loved by the regime, so much that, in the mid-thirties, although its wide spread, for example, in the Italian schools in Brazil, it was replaced with texts ideologically and politically more in line with the fascist totalitarianism addresses.

LA MISSIONE EDUCATIVA DELLA GENERAZIONE DI MEZZO IN TEMPO DI GUERRA: GLI SCRITTI PER LA SCUOLA E PER LA GIOVENTÙ DI LUIGI BERTELLI DEGLI ANNI 1914-1918

The idea that the Great War represents a “watershed in the contemporary world” is by now well established in the history tout court (Gibelli, 1991, p. 43). On the other hand, the impact that the First World War conflict had on the schools of the time has not been as well investigated. A valuable source for exploring this field is undoubtedly those school books which were written andThe idea that the Great War represents a watershed in the contemporary world is by now well established in the history tout court (Gibelli, 1991). On the other hand, the impact that the First World War conflict had on the schools of the time has not been as well investigated. A valuable source for exploring this field is undoubtedly those school books which were written and published during this period. The article which we are presenting here starts from such considerations and focuses on the works of a prominent figure of Italian childrens literature, Luigi Bertelli, who wrote for schools and young people. The well-known author of the novel for young readers, Gian Burrasca, and founder of the children magazine, Il Giornalino della Domenica, wrote several books for schools and the young generation during the First World War. This article intends to examine these writings for the first time, in a careful and analytical way, not only to re-establish Bertellis position as an author and educator, but also to contribute to the understanding of the real pedagogy of war, those teachings promoted during the years of the First World War.

Letteratura ed esperienza magistrale femminile nell’Italia di fine Ottocento. La costruzione di una difficile identità in «Scuola Normale Femminile» di Matilde Serao (1885)

Al principio del 1885 Matilde Serao pubblicava per la prima volta, a puntate, sulla «Nuova Antologia» la novella Scuola Normale Femminile1, la quale, assieme al bozzetto Telegrafi dello Stato, apparso anch’esso a puntate sulla medesima rivista di cultura letteraria nel corso del 18842, sarebbe poi stata riedita in volume un anno più tardi, nel 18863, nel clima infuocato dalle polemiche e dai dibattiti suscitati dalla vicenda del suicidio della povera maestrina di Porciano, Italia Donati, la quale, a seguito dei soprusi e delle gravi maldicenze messe in giro dal sindaco del paesino toscano dove ella esercitava il suo insegnamento, dopo che questi aveva visto respinte le sue profferte amorose,

The Pigna Paper Mill and the Exercise Books of the "New Italy" (1870-1960).

For the very first time this in-depth paper studies the archives of the historic Paolo Pigna Paper Mill of Alzano Lombardo (Bergamo, Italy), which played a leading role in Italian history and culture: so much so that it ended up with DOI: 10.1590/0104-4060.67681 1 O presente texto foi traduzido do italiano para o português (de Portugal), pelo tradutor Carlos Martins, por meio da empresa Komaberri Bat. * Universidade de Macerata. Departamento Ciências da Formação, Patrimônio Cultural e Turismo. Diretora do Museu Escolar Paolo e Ornella Ricca. Macerata, Itália. Email: anna.ascenzi@ unimc.it. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2209-4584. Educar em Revista, Curitiba, Brasil, v. 35, n. 76, p. 119-149, jul./ago. 2019 119 fusing its own image to the very market where it operated, that is, the Italian schools. After being taken over by Paolo Pigna in 1867, the great paper mill immediately became known not only for its high-quality production but also for keeping abreast of technology and emerging in a sector of the economy, which in the mid-1800s was fragmented into a multitude of small and poorly mechanized artisan workshops. The Author retraces one hundred years of the history of the company and its production for schools: in particular its production of exercise books – a simple but effective and all-pervading medium of iconic-verbal messages (moral, educational, propagandistic, religious, etc.).