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The beginning of the philhellenic movement in Italy: Periodisation, goals and expectations

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Title

The beginning of the philhellenic movement in Italy: Periodisation, goals and expectations

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Date

5 February 2021

Abstract

"The rich literature on the philhellenic movement produced in Italy has often been limited to making references and descriptions without attempting a more systematic study of the phenomenon in order to determine its basic characteristics, roots and manifestations. The only available periodisation so far is Elena Persico’s 100-year-old Letteratura filellenica italiana, 1787–1870 (1920), which can be considered largely outdated mostly because during the 20th century a series of new documents and studies have come to light, forcing us to radically change our approach to the Italian philhellenic movement and the way that the “Greek Question” and the 1821 Revolution was perceived in Italy. In this paper I deal with the first philhellenic documents, which appeared in Italy in the 1770s, and attempt to highlight their particularity, their characteristics and their decisive influence on the rest of the European philhellenic movement. More specifically, I examine texts such as Voti dei greci all’Europa cristiana (1771), Componimenti poetici di varj autori in lode di Caterina II (1771), Componimenti poetici di varj autori in lode di Sua Eccellenza il signor conte Alessio Orlow (1772) in relation to the historical events of that period, as well as the specific goals of their authors. Finally, I propose a new periodisation of the Italian philhellenic movement that dates its beginning to the 1770s, in contrast to previous approaches that are based on Elena Persico’s position, according to which the first example of a philhellenic text in Italy was published in 1787 as the result of (mainly French) travel literature of the 1780s and the neoclassical movement of the time."

From the book of abstracts of the conference, as it was published on Intiative's 1821-2021 website.

[Abstract edited for clarity]

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Bibliographic Citation

https://www.protovoulia21.gr/draseis/ethnika-kinimata-kai-filellinismos/
https://www.blod.gr/lectures/synedria-ii-i-geiton-kai-i-makrini-hora-tis-elladas/

Number Of Pages - Duration

00:20:00

Rights

BY-NC-SA Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Position: 1090 (45 views)