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The meaning of monuments: remembering Italo Balbo in Italy and the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2019

Nick Carter Open the ORCID record for Nick Carter [Opens in a new window]
Nick Carter*
Affiliation:
School of Arts, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia
*
*Email: nick.carter@acu.edu.au
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Abstract

This article examines the meaning of monuments in Italy and the United States (Chicago) dedicated to the Fascist gerarch Italo Balbo. A hugely popular personality in Fascist Italy, Balbo cemented his reputation in the early 1930s as the commander of mass-formation transatlantic flights to Brazil (1930-1931) and the United States (1933). Chicago’s monuments – a road (Balbo Drive) and a column (the ‘Balbo monument’) – are a legacy of Balbo’s triumphant arrival in the city in 1933. Italy’s monuments date from the postwar and contemporary periods. The article examines why Balbo Drive and the Balbo monument in Chicago have become more controversial over time, especially in recent decades, and why, despite calls for their removal, both remain. It contrasts the Chicago case with the situation in Italy where, since the 1990s, Balbo has been commemorated in numerous ways.

Italian summary

L’articolo esamina il significato dei monumenti dedicati, in Italia e negli Stati Uniti (Chicago), al gerarca fascista Italo Balbo. Personalità di enorme popolarità nell’Italia fascista, nei primi anni ’30 Balbo consolidò la propria fama di comandante di crociere aeree transatlantiche verso il Brasile (1930-1) e gli Stati Uniti (1933). I monumenti di Chicago – una strada (Balbo Drive) e una colonna (il ‘Balbo monument’) – restano a testimonianza del trionfale arrivo di Balbo in città, nel 1933. I monumenti in Italia si datano invece in età postbellica e contemporanea. L’articolo analizza i motivi per cui la Balbo Drive e il Balbo monument di Chicago siano diventati nel tempo assai controversi, soprattutto negli ultimi decenni, e perché, nonostante le richieste di rimozione, entrambi rimangano. Mette anche a contrasto il suddetto caso con la situazione in Italia, dove, sin dagli anni ’90, Balbo è stato commemorato in varie forme.

Keywords

Italo BalboChicagomonumentsFascismmemorycritical toponymy
Type
Special Issue
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 24 , Issue 2: Special Issue: The Difficult Heritage of Italian Fascism , May 2019 , pp. 219 - 235
Copyright
© 2019 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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