Captivity and Creativity

The Cultural and Material Production of Italian Prisoners in Allied Hands (1940-1947)

A groundbreaking volume that represents the first examination of cultural production amongst Italian prisoners of war

Captivity and Creativity explores the artistic and material production by Italian prisoners of war (POWs) and some civilian internees who were captured by the Western Allies in 1940–43 and detained in prison camps scattered across Africa, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II. Twelve chapters discuss from different theoretical and histori­cal angles the various artistic activities (e.g., theatre, music, visual arts, architecture, chapels, and material objects), technical contributions (e.g., maps, photography, radio), writings (e.g., memoirs, diaries, letters, and fiction), as well as the documentary evidence that resulted from the diverse experiences and transnational exchanges between the prisoners and their captors as military personnel and local civilian populations in different parts of the globe between 1940 and 1947.

The book describes the prisoners’ economic importance for the Western Allied powers in their war effort to fight Nazi-Fascism and the enforced diaspora through which POWs were moved across different allied countries. It analyzes the prisoners’ daily camp life, work, and treatment before and after the 1943 Armistice, when POWs were asked to sign an agreement to renounce Fascism and become cooperators of war, underlining the different treatment reserved for coop­erators of war and noncooperators of war. The book also investigates the legacy of the prisoners’ artistic and material production, the cultural heritage and the practices of memorialization (e.g., photography, monuments, museums, anniversary celebrations, exhibits) that have derived from the Italian presence in camps in different countries up to this date, through reference to groups and communities that preserve that heritage.

Contributor: Giorgia Alù (Edited by), Elena Bellina (Edited by), Giorgia Alù (Contributions by), Elena Bellina (Contributions by), Catherine Dewhirst (Contributions by), Erika Lorenzon (Contributions by), Flavia Marcello (Contributions by), Bob Moore (Contributions by), Alan Perry (Contributions by), Laura Ruberto (Contributions by), Donato Somma (Contributions by), Daniel Travers (Contributions by), Anthony White (Contributions by)

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