Young Ambassadors of the Fascist Empire: Voices of Italian Children Abroad in the Magazine Il Tamburino

Abstract In the 1930s, Italian children residing abroad had access to a fascist magazine specifically tailored for them, Il Tamburino. Its existence demonstrates that the regime considered these children to be potentially significant actors, and particularly so when it came to the expansion of Fascism beyond the Italian peninsula. Despite the growing interest in the history of fascist imperialism, the ways in which children experienced and connected with the fascist regime from abroad remain an overlooked topic. Through the study of hundreds of children’s letters published by Il Tamburino, this article investigates the relationship between the imperial fascist discourses that positioned Italian children abroad as a central element in the regime’s expansionist ambitions and the responses of children to this campaign. The analysis of children’s correspondence reveals, first, that the manifestations of adherence to the regime were presented mainly through young writers’ displays of physical and emotional control. Second, that the experiences of children at school and summer camps, as well as their interactions with food, uniforms, and toys, contributed to the formation of a sense of fascist Italianness from below anchored in intimate, vernacular, and material elements. Third, the exchange among readers and editors fostered a sense of transnational community by facilitating the identification of shared experiences and emotions across diverse geographical locations. The children often depicted the magazine as a paternal figure caring for an extended family scattered across the world. Fourth, that this supposedly homogeneous and harmonious transnational community contained, however, disparities and tensions among its members that were the result of fascism’s internal dynamics. During the 1930s, Italian children residing abroad had access to a fascist magazine specifically tailored for them, Il Tamburino. Within its pages, children could have found fictional narratives portraying courageous boys assisting Italian military personnel in overcoming adversaries in colonial settings or depicting Italian pilots traversing the Atlantic Ocean in their sturdy aircraft. They could also read accounts written by other young expatriates who had traveled to Italy to attend summer camps organized by the regime. Engaged readers even had the opportunity to become magazine correspondents. Those entrusted with this task were responsible for providing updates on their respective educational institutions and fellow students. In urban Italian communities worldwide, including those in cities as different as Buenos Aires, Cairo, and London, the magazine disseminated information about Fascist Italy and extended invitations to its readership to contribute to Italy’s imperial project.