Traditional Alpine chants and military songs combine a popular repertory and one proposed by the dominant culture, divided into several sub-genres: 1) songs extolling warlike values and patriotic self-abnegation 2) light-hearted songs to accompany marches and lulls in military action, which included regional repertories as well as remakes of popular songs 3) songs of resignation, anguish and pain 4) songs of anger, protest and ridicule – the anti-militaristic vein.
Songs were instrumental to the spreading of the Italian language and cultural values shared by different social classes. At the outbreak of the war, only 24% of soldiers spoke Italian, 90% of whom were officers. The First World War (1915 – 18) provided a unique opportunity for the emergence of a national repertory that was common to the whole of the country, from the Alps to the island of Sicily.
0 kommentar(er)
