By examining the specific, paradigmatic case of Massimo Bontempelli, with particular reference to early twentieth-century Italy, this study aims to outline the intense relationship that existed between intellectuals and the corporate bodies of the fascist regime. In order to expand its range of action also to culture, the regime made use of a series of institutional apparatuses, often working synergistically, which provided significant forms of sustenance. Massimo Bontempelli was emblematic of this approach, given the important positions he held first within the Authors and Writers Union (secretary from 1927 to 1928), and later in the Royal Academy of Italy, which made him a central figure in the cultural scene of the time. The reconstruction of the writer's institutional activities offers a behind-the-scenes view of these institutions and, consequently, allows us to investigate the political and cultural network underlying one of the most direct expressions of those patronage circuits, i.e. literary awards. Conceived as tools to strengthen the cultural system, literary competitions were intended to protect and encourage the activity of Italian writers, from both a financial and a legal point of view. However, they were also a battleground between the great minds of the world, who fought to ensure the awards went to the candidates that best represented the literary movement for which they were the mouthpiece. Thus Bontempelli, as holder - for a certain length of time - of the role of 'master' of the awards machine, endeavoured to protect and reward the Novecento cultural movement of which he was the patron. While the arbiters were just a handful, the outsiders were many. To offer a contrasting view, and render the richness of the literary debate of those years, this study also explores those who were either excluded by the machine or chose to keep their distance. On the fringes (within an appendix including a concise overview of the literary awards in question, in addition to a detailed list), the study also dedicates considerable space to a more general description of Bontempelli, focussing in particular on his many other institutional activities (and those relating to them). Finally, the field of analysis is circumscribed to Bontempelli's work as a propagandist and an anthologist, roles which while fuelling the demands of the cultural policies of fascism, was nevertheless characterised by a problematic and controversial relationship with the regime, which would cost him dearly in the future, perhaps also in terms of critical acclaim.

La ricerca si propone, a partire dal caso specifico e paradigmatico di Massimo Bontempelli e in stretto riferimento al contesto italiano primonovecentesco, di delineare l’intensa relazione che intercorse tra gli intellettuali e gli organi corporativi del regime fascista. Il quale, per estendere il proprio raggio d’azione (anche) alla cultura, si servì di una serie di apparati istituzionali che veicolavano, spesso in modo sinergico, robuste forme di sussistenza. La figura di Massimo Bontempelli si rivela in tal senso emblematica: le importanti funzioni assolte dapprima in seno al Sindacato Autori e Scrittori (di cui fu segretario dal 1927 al 1928), e in un secondo momento all’interno della Reale Accademia d’Italia lo rendono uno dei protagonisti della scena culturale del tempo. La ricostruzione dell’attività istituzionale dello scrittore funge perciò da viatico per penetrare nelle retrovie delle istituzioni medesime e, di conseguenza, indagare la rete politico-culturale sottesa a una delle espressioni più dirette di quei circuiti clientelari: i premi letterari. Concepiti essenzialmente quali strumenti di potenziamento del sistema culturale, i concorsi letterari erano volti a proteggere e incoraggiare l’attività dei letterati italiani, tanto dal punto di vista economico quanto da quello giuridico. Ma erano anche un terreno di scontro tra uomini forti del mondo intellettuale, i quali si davano battaglia perché a vincere fossero i candidati che meglio rappresentassero la linea letteraria di cui erano portavoce. Così lo stesso Bontempelli, il quale, essendo stato – per un certo periodo di tempo – detentore del ruolo di dominus all’interno della macchina dei premi, cercò di proteggere e premiare la linea novecentista di cui era patrocinatore. Accanto a pochi arbitri v’erano tanti outsiders: per contrasto, e per restituire la ricchezza del dibattito letterario di quegli anni, uno sguardo è stato dedicato anche a chi dall’ingranaggio di quella macchina era stato escluso o aveva voluto mantenere le distanze. A latere di questa indagine (che trova collocazione in un’appendice corredata da una tabella sinottica dei premi letterari e da un dettagliato regesto), la ricerca pone l’accento sulla ricomposizione, più generale, del profilo bontempelliano, in specie in relazione alle sue tante altre attività istituzionali (e collaterali a esse). Infine, il campo d’analisi viene circoscritto al Bontempelli “propagandista” e antologista: funzioni, queste ultime, da una parte corroboranti le istanze delle politiche culturali del fascismo, dall’altra inscritte nel solco di un rapporto problematico e controverso col regime, che gli sarebbe costato caro, fors’anche in termini di fortuna critica.

<<ELENCARE E GRADUARE>>. IL PROFILO "ISTITUZIONALE" DI MASSIMO BONTEMPELLI / Rosiana Schiuma , 2020 Mar 06. 32. ciclo, Anno Accademico 2018/2019.

<>. IL PROFILO "ISTITUZIONALE" DI MASSIMO BONTEMPELLI

SCHIUMA, ROSIANA
2020

Abstract

By examining the specific, paradigmatic case of Massimo Bontempelli, with particular reference to early twentieth-century Italy, this study aims to outline the intense relationship that existed between intellectuals and the corporate bodies of the fascist regime. In order to expand its range of action also to culture, the regime made use of a series of institutional apparatuses, often working synergistically, which provided significant forms of sustenance. Massimo Bontempelli was emblematic of this approach, given the important positions he held first within the Authors and Writers Union (secretary from 1927 to 1928), and later in the Royal Academy of Italy, which made him a central figure in the cultural scene of the time. The reconstruction of the writer's institutional activities offers a behind-the-scenes view of these institutions and, consequently, allows us to investigate the political and cultural network underlying one of the most direct expressions of those patronage circuits, i.e. literary awards. Conceived as tools to strengthen the cultural system, literary competitions were intended to protect and encourage the activity of Italian writers, from both a financial and a legal point of view. However, they were also a battleground between the great minds of the world, who fought to ensure the awards went to the candidates that best represented the literary movement for which they were the mouthpiece. Thus Bontempelli, as holder - for a certain length of time - of the role of 'master' of the awards machine, endeavoured to protect and reward the Novecento cultural movement of which he was the patron. While the arbiters were just a handful, the outsiders were many. To offer a contrasting view, and render the richness of the literary debate of those years, this study also explores those who were either excluded by the machine or chose to keep their distance. On the fringes (within an appendix including a concise overview of the literary awards in question, in addition to a detailed list), the study also dedicates considerable space to a more general description of Bontempelli, focussing in particular on his many other institutional activities (and those relating to them). Finally, the field of analysis is circumscribed to Bontempelli's work as a propagandist and an anthologist, roles which while fuelling the demands of the cultural policies of fascism, was nevertheless characterised by a problematic and controversial relationship with the regime, which would cost him dearly in the future, perhaps also in terms of critical acclaim.
<<LIST AND CLASSIFY>>. A DESCRIPTION OF MASSIMO BONTEMPELLI'S RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE INSTITUTIONS
6-mar-2020
TONGIORGI, Duccio
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1200412
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