‘The Year of the Duce.’ The 1983 Mussolini centenary in Italy, between public dimension and history

The article focuses on the public dimension of the centenary of Benito Mussolini’s birth in 1983. It underlines the impact of the intertwining of interests between the cultural market and the mediatic system. In this sense, an overview is given of the most important printed materials (books as well as newspapers), the most discussed programmes and the main television productions about Fascism and the Duce. The initiatives of the neofascist Movimento sociale italiano (Italian Social Movement) party, which devoted a great deal of attention to the anniversary, are also discussed. The overall picture shows that the celebrations often bow to the interests of a highly spectacular information and media system, leading to a normalization of the historical representation of Fascism and its dictator. This is also emphasized by the comparison between the national and international press.