Regionalism in a political transition: "La Piê" and the cultural identity of Romagna

di Stefano Cavazza
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 2 (1998), p. 77

The author analyses the regionalism of Romagna starting from the idea of a cultural construction of regional and local identity. The foundation of such an identity, despite the historical background of each cultural element, is quite recent and began during the 19th century. The author points out the transformation of the regional stereotype of the Romagna-inhabitant, seen as a violent man, into a new one full of positive aspects. The building of the regional identity is the consequence of the activity of the intellectuals that edited regional periodicals and the First world war can be seen as the turning point not only for the abandoning of the negative stereotype, but also for the construction of a regional identity which didn’t refuse the idea of nation, but stressed its links to the "grande patria". The author analyses the special role played by Aldo Spallicci and by his group of enthusiasts of the popular and regional culture. Spallicci edited a journal "La Piê" which tried to revitalise the regional tradition of Romagna. The essay examines also the relation between the journal and the fascism. The fascists turned regional culture for their own purposes, refusing to it any form of political authonomy. The increasing conflict with the regime, that reached his peak with the forbidding of "La Piê", cannot be explained, according to the author, only as depending on the antiregionalistic approach of the regime, that started in the Thirtees, but much more as a consequence of the hostility of local fascists against Spallicci and his group.