Italy, World Football Champion 1982: A New Risorgimento ?

Abstract

Les compétitions de la Coupe du monde offrent une excellente occasion à l’Italie de s’unir à l’enseigne du patriotisme national. Si la victoire de 1982 en Coupe du monde n’a pas réussi à supprimer la double loyauté (locale et nationale) et pierre angulaire de l’identité italienne, elle n’en a pas moins resserré le lien avec la nation. La victoire de l’Italie sur les terrains de football de l’Espagne a eu des effets importants puisqu’elle coïncidait avec l’éveil grandissant au renouveau de l’identité italienne.

How Italian Football Creates Italians: The 1982 World Cup, the ‘Pertini Myth’ and Italian National Identity

“…published in 2012. 10 Mourlane begins with this bold statement of intent: he will analyze 'the important role that football has played in Italian society' and the way that it became 'almost an essential element in the construction of national identity' . 11 However, the rest of the article provides no evidence and no real argument to back up this claim.…”

“…10 Mourlane begins with this bold statement of intent: he will analyze 'the important role that football has played in Italian society' and the way that it became 'almost an essential element in the construction of national identity' . 11 However, the rest of the article provides no evidence and no real argument to back up this claim. Statements are simply presented as fact, such as this one 'For Italians, whose national identity (unlike that of other countries) had not been forged on the battlefield, national sportsmen were expected to represent the country's prestige and pride' .…”

“…12 With regards to the role of Sandro Pertini in the events and memory of 1982, Mourlane simply repeats the official version of the story: 'Elected in July 1978 at the age of 82, President Pertini was the incarnation of democratic values for the Italian people because of his antifascist activities as a youth' . 13 At no point is there any attempt to question or unpick perceived notions of an automatic link between something called 'national identity' and something called 'the World Cup' . At no point is there any sense that statements of protagonists of such events should not necessarily be taken at face value.…”

Coming to grips with diverse voices in participatory heritage initiatives

“…The hostility between these two teams is not evident in the field study of this research mainly because the researched area, Testaccio, is dominantly an AS Roma neighbourhood. Given the high importance attached to football politics in Italy in general (Foot 2016;Martin 2018;Mourlane 2012), it is no surprise to see how AS Roma fandom influences Testaccio citizens' sense and imagination of community and heritage making process.…”

“…Nevertheless, many interviewees' accounts of the deserted Campo Testaccio, the former Roma stadium, confirm that AS Roma fandom is not a neglectable phenomenon in this neighbourhood. This is no surprise since, in Italy, football club affiliation is often closely tied to a civic identity (Guschwan 2011); it is sometimes likened to the second religion of Italy and even boasted by some as a potential power to unite the country (Foot 2016;Lago and Biasi 1994;Mourlane 2012).…”