The Risorgimento Revisited

What was the appeal and the tropes of national-patriotic discourse in nineteenth-century Italy? How did Romanticism intersect with nationalist politics? Why did a young man or woman become a patriot, join a nationalist movement and, if necessary, fight and die for the cause? By addressing these and other questions, the innovative essays of this collection provide fresh and topical perspectives on a central period in modern Italian history. Beside confronting the narrative of 'Risorgimento', its gendered tropes, and the actual experiences of men and women, the authors approach neglected areas of investigation on the Risorgimento - from the relationship between religion and the nation to the connections with the issue of empire and the aspirations of other peoples in the Mediterranean region. An important contribution to our understanding of Italian and more generally European nationalism, this volume also enlightens current discussions about the role of patriotism and the nature of nationalism in present-day Italy.