La Società Dante Alighieri da Costantinopoli a Istanbul. 1895-1922: diffusione della lingua e pedagogia nazionale

Abstract

The Dante Alighieri Society was founded in 1889 in Rome, in Istanbul it was inaugurated in 1895 and since then it became a reference point for italian community of the city working through cultural initiatives such as the establishment of schools, libraries, the organization of public conferences, the constant promotion of the Italian language. But the Society also reflected the social and political changes imposed by Rome to the Italian communities abroad. Through the sources preserved in the Archives of the Society, on the one hand this article aims to analyze the way in which Rome addressed the crucial step from the ideals of Risorgimento to a more markedly nationalist orientation (which will lead to a complete ‘fascistization’ of the Society), on the other the way in which this new approach clashes with the nascent turkish nationalism on the eve of the fall of the Ottoman empire.

Keywords

• cultural identity
• Italian communities abroad
• nation and language
• Società Dante Alighieri
• Turkey
• comunità italiane all’estero
• identità culturale
• lingua e nazione
• Turchia