Border, memories, identities. The Allied Military Government in Venezia Giulia between public policies and private life stories

This essay deals with the interrelationship among borders, identity and memory in Venezia Giulia, especially in the Gorizia territory, during the administration of the Allied Military Government. This is a crucial period for the area, since the main issue on the agenda was the redefinition of the border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The population had to face a transition from a system of multiple, fluid and changing identities to a harsh national and political confrontation. Also because of the traumas recently suffered, individuals and groups reset the parameters serving to distinguish themselves from the "others" by selecting certain events and moments of the past and remoulding them as the core of their identity. This process resulted in different, and often antithetical, memories. The author studies both the public and institutional aspects, as well as the private emotions, feelings, and individual daily choices, mainly through the analysis of interviews and life stories of a variety of witnesses. Such oral sources are in turn compared with official documents recording the activity of the Allied Military Government and its relationships with the different national and cultural groups of the area.

Keywords: Allied Military Government; Venezia Giulia; border; memories; identity; oral history

Alessandro Cattunar, Confine, memorie, identità Il Governo militare alleato nella Venezia Giulia tra politiche pubbliche e percorsi privati in "ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA" 258/2010, pp 26-56, DOI: 10.3280/IC2010-258002