The “rock boy”, between myth and propaganda. The figure of Ba-lilla during the twenty-year fascist period

Abstract

This research aims to analyse the educational and propagandistic importance of the figure of the ‘child hero’, through the narration of the character of Balil-la, under the twenty-year fascist period. Identified as the 11-year-old Giovan Battista Perasso, who, in 1746, is said to have thrown the stone that started the revolt in Genoa against the Austrian army that occupied it, the myth of Balilla is perhaps the culmination of the political use of history in the sphere of children, being part of the trend that, through militarism and the cult of the soldier, aimed at building a new generation, completely educated in the values of the regime. The research will use a wide range of sources to reconstruct the various phases of this mythical narrative. In addition to ministerial directives and pedagogical journals of the time, Fascist literature, both of school (examining references to the character in stock texts) and entertainment, will be analyzed. School diaries and notebooks will also be discussed to ascertain how effectively those heroic models linked to the cult of the young man from Genoa had penetrated Italian schools.