'Epic' memories in the history of Italy: Sarcasm and bitterness in the pamphlet "Lo Sfascismo" by Antonio Russello

Abstract

At the intersection of Roman annals, 14th-century chronicles, epic-chivalric ballads, romantic novels, and ‘black articles’, Antonio Russello, born in Favara (1921 - Castelfranco Veneto 2001), penned a narrative between 1979 and 1980 that unravels Italy’s history in reverse. It begins with the assassination of Aldo Moro and culminates in the Ides of March, marking Caesar’s demise and the Republic’s shift towards an Empire. Titled Lo Sfascismo, this pamphlet invokes pivotal historical moments where, in its pursuit of a strong leader, Italy ‘falls apart’ repeatedly. Each epoch resonates with names, locales, and texts wherein the hero of the hour (exalted through a distinctively tailored onomastic formula: Moraldo (from Aldo Moro), Zaccagninbenito, Cavourbensocamillo, Emmanuelvittorio, Cesaregiulio, etc.), meets his downfall. It’s a pathway that unwinds the thread in reverse, with each summoned name serving as a conduit for intertextuality.