Remembering and narrating resistance. Thematic lines and narrative formats in contemporary youth fiction

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the representation of the Resistance in contemporary Italian literature for children and adolescents. Starting from the analysis of some case studies and building on a historical, literary and at the same time pedagogical approach, the essay aims to show and analyse a growing interest of Italian literature in narrating to a young audience fascist dictatorship and the subsequent struggle of partisans. The works considered refer to different literary formats ranging from silent books to novels and comics. This shows how Italian publishing industry is approaching the subject in different stylistic and formal ways. Literature for young readers has the potential to preserve the historical memory of the partisans, but also to shape a new imaginary capable of offering new interpretative paths of history, inspiring future educational models of resistance.