La Difesa della Razza

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La Difesa della Razza
Difesa della razza 3.jpg
A page from La Difesa della Razza
CategoriesPolitical magazine
FrequencyBiweekly
Founded1938
First issue5 August 1938
Final issue20 June 1943
CountryItaly
Based inRome
LanguageItalian
OCLC690960529

La Difesa della Razza (Italian: In Defence of Race) was a Fascist biweekly magazine which was published in Rome between 1938 and 1943 during the Fascist rule in Italy. Its subtitle was Scienza, Documentazione, Polemica. It played a significant role in the implementation of the racial ideology following the invasion of Ethiopia and the introduction of the racial laws in 1938.[1][2]

History and profile[edit]

La Difesa della Razza was first published on 5 August 1938.[1][3] It was established by the Office for the Racial Problems headed by Guido Landra.[4] The founding director of the magazine was Giulio Cogni, but he left the post when he recognized that his ideas about races had been used by the Fascist leaders without making any reference to him.[4] Cogni was replaced by Telesio Interlandi in the post.[2][4] Giorgio Almirante served as its editorial secretary[3] and was the assistant to Interlandi.[5] The editorial board of the magazine included leading physicians and scientists.[3] It came out biweekly.[1]

La Difesa della Razza was financed by several public institutions, including the Ministry of Popular Culture, banks, industrial and insurance companies.[6] It folded on 20 June 1943 after producing 118 issues.[1][7]

Ideology, content and contributors[edit]

The first issue of the magazine featured a manifesto, Manifesto della Razza, by the scholars which was the guiding principle of the racist ideology of Fascist Italy.[8] Following the publication of this manifesto the approach of the state towards the Italian Jews and its colonial policies changed.[8] The magazine described its goals in the first issue as follows:[8]

We will popularize, with the help of scholars of various disciplines related to the problem, the fundamental concepts upon which the doctrine of Italian racism is based; and we will prove that science is on our side.

It was a supporter of the cultural racism and Italian primitivism rejecting the premises of European modernism.[2] Some of its contributors were Lino Businco, Luigi Castaldi, Elio Gasteiner, Guido Landra and Marcello Ricci who were scientific figures and published articles about biological racism.[6] Guido Landra's articles were mostly concerned with hereditary diseases.[6] The other frequent topic covered in the magazine was antisemitism.[7] Not only Jews but also Black people were depicted in a negative manner in the magazine through photographs.[7]

Circulation[edit]

Shortly after its launch La Difesa della Razza sold 150,000 copies per issue.[7] However, from November 1940 its circulation significantly decreased because of the start of World War II.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Sandro Servi (2005). "Building a Racial State: Images of the Jew in the Illustrated Fascist Magazine, La Difesa della Razza, 1938–1943". In Joshua D. Zimmerman (ed.). Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi Rule, 1922–1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 114–157. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511471063.010. ISBN 9780511471063.
  2. ^ a b c Mariana Aguirre (October 2015). "La Difesa Della Razza (1938–1943): Primitivism and Classicism in Fascist Italy". Politics, Religion & Ideology. 16 (4): 370–390. doi:10.1080/21567689.2015.1132412. S2CID 146984963.
  3. ^ a b c "The Defense of the Race magazine". Museo Ebraico. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Aaron Gillette (Winter 2002). "Guido Landra and the Office of Racial Studies in Fascist Italy". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 16 (3): 361. doi:10.1093/hgs/16.3.357.
  5. ^ Aaron Gillette (2001). "The origins of the 'Manifesto of racial scientists'". Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 6 (3): 308. doi:10.1080/13545710110084253. S2CID 146603137.
  6. ^ a b c Francesco Cassata (2011). Building the New Man: Eugenics, Racial Science and Genetics in Twentieth-Century Italy. Budapest: Central European University Press. pp. 223–284. ISBN 9789639776838.
  7. ^ a b c d e Chiara Volpato; et al. (December 2010). "Picturing the Other: Targets of Delegitimization across Time". International Journal of Conflict and Violence. 4 (2): 272–276. doi:10.4119/ijcv-2831.
  8. ^ a b c Barbara Sòrgoni (2003). "'Defending the race': the Italian reinvention of the Hottentot Venus during Fascism". Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 8 (3): 412. doi:10.1080/09585170320000113761. S2CID 143675594.

External links[edit]

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