O fascismo para os colonos: Il Giornale Dell’Agricoltore e a divulgação do fascismo entre italianos e seus descendentes no Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze the divulgation and the representation of Fascism on the pages of Il Giornale dell’Agricoltore, a weekly periodic which was published from 1934 to 1938 in Caxias do Sul, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. With this purpose, it was tried to identify some structural attributes of Fascism that could, intentionally, have been explored with more emphasis than others, with the purpose of spreading the fascist ideology among local settlers, owners of small properties in Rio Grande do Sul who had come from Italy. It was also tried to establish a parallel between the Italian foreign policy regarding Italian citizens living abroad, and the policy of Italian Consulates and other agencies that diffused Fascism abroad, like fasci all’estero, dopolavoro, associations and schools, and the news from the newspaper, in order to identify the manifestations of Fascism in the Northeast of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. With this, it could be confirmed that the target of fascist publicity in the newspaper was to propagate an idealized image of a New Italy, modern and united around its leader; the strengthening of the Italian patriot feeling, directly associated with Fascism; and the representation of the farmer as a catalyst of the qualities related to the Italian patriot feeling. It was also possible to identify the period related to the Italian-Ethiopian War as the pinnacle of fascist publicity, presenting Mussolini’s Italy as the country symbol of civilization, in a counterpoint to the African barbarism.