The Cult of the Duce: Mussolini and the Italians 1918-2005

对墨索里尼的崇拜是理解20世纪意大利的核心，更广泛地说，是理解魅力在现代历史中的作用。墨索里尼是第一位系统地利用戏剧、视觉艺术和大众媒体的技术来建立个性化的统治体系的政治领导人。这个邪教对意大利法西斯主义成为一种政权至关重要，它将民众整合到一个似乎稳固的共识体系中，直到它被第二次世界大战的挫折破坏。该项目的目的是调查邪教的起源、性质、目的、功能和影响。围绕墨索里尼的例外叙事出现的背景是，在里索门托的英雄时代，以及在随后的时期，将意大利提升到大国地位的努力失败。它还将与大众政治在选举权非常有限和普遍文盲的背景下发展的方式有关。在意大利没有直接等同于戈培尔的球员，因此几名关键球员的角色需要仔细审查。邪教服务于各种目的，该项目的任务将是识别、比较和权衡这些目的。例如，对一些人来说，这是法西斯主义改革意大利人的总计划的一个组成部分。对于其他人来说，这是一种获得对政权的支持和对抗国王和教皇影响力的手段。邪教主要是通过视觉手段表现出来的，但绝不是仅仅通过视觉手段。它借鉴了现有的视觉原型，并打造了与新媒体相关的新原型。因此，它的审美性需要评估。该政权精心策划了墨索里尼的露面，并使用各种手段来发出公众舆论的声音，并测试他的受欢迎程度。不同地区和不同阶层的意大利人的反应需要研究，随着时间的推移，邪教的影响也是如此。人们通常认为，这种邪教在1943年墨索里尼被推翻后结束，并在1943年至1945年之间结束。这个项目不会接受这一点，但将审查邪教的后果，也就是说，它的残余物一直存在于意大利的文化和政治中，在大众记忆中，一直持续到现在。在当前的背景下，邪教问题是一个合适的研究问题，因为媒体和政治以及魅力建设的问题是高度热门的。墨索里尼应该成为这种研究的第一个焦点，这是正确的，因为他是第一个成为系统宣传和崇拜的对象的现代独裁者。这项研究将提供对意大利法西斯主义的组织、自动代表和统治模式的基本新理解。将对以下问题有更广泛的见解：法西斯主义的视觉文化、魅力和共识、媒体和政治、现代大众政治中领导人的展示。

The cult of Mussolini is central to an understanding of twentieth century Italy and, more widely, to the role of charisma in modern history. Mussolini was the first political leader to harness systematically the techniques of theatre, the visual arts and the mass media to a personalised system of rule. The cult was vital to the way Italian Fascism became a regime, integrating the population in a system of consensus that appeared solid until it was undermined by the setbacks of World War Two. The aim of the project is to investigate the origins, nature, purposes, functioning and impact of the cult. The background to the emergence of narratives of exceptionality around Mussolini is to be found in the heroic era of the Risorgimento and the failure, in the subsequent period, of efforts to elevate Italy to the status of a great power. It is also to be related to the manner in which mass politics developed in a context of very limited franchise and widespread illiteracy. There was no direct equivalent of Goebbels in Italy and therefore the role of several key players requires close examination. The cult served various purposes and it will be the task of the project to identify, compare and weigh these. For example, for some it was an integral feature of Fascism's general project to reform the Italians. For others, it was a means of securing support for the regime and countering the influence of the King and the Pope. The cult manifested itself primarily, but by no means only, through visual means. It drew on existing visual archetypes and forged new ones related to new media. Therefore its aesthetics require assessment. The regime orchestrated Mussolini's appearances and it used various means to sound public opinion and test his popularity or otherwise. The responses of Italians of different regions and classes require study, as does the impact of the cult over time. It is usually assumed that the cult came to an end with Mussolini's overthrow in 1943, with an epilogue between 1943 and 1945. This project will not accept this as a given, but will examine the aftermath of the cult, that is to say the residues of it that have persisted in Italian culture and politics, and in popular memory, down to the present. The question of the cult is an appropriate one to research in the present context because issues of the media and politics, and of the construction of charisma, are highly topical. It is right that Mussolini should constitute the first focus of such a study because he was the first modern dictator to be the object of systematic promotion and adoration. The research will provide fundamental new understandings of the organisation, auto-representation and pattern of rule of Italian fascism. Wider insights will be gained into the following issues: the visual culture of fascism, charisma and consensus, the media and politics, the presentation of the leader in modern mass politics.