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Costruire il nemico
"Una delle disgrazie del nostro paese, negli ultimi sessant'anni, è stata proprio di non avere avuto veri nemici. Avere un nemico è importante non solo per definire la nostra identità ma anche per procurarci un ostacolo rispetto al quale misurare il nostro sistema di valori e mostrare, nell'affrontarlo, il valore nostro. Pertanto, quando il nemico non ci sia, occorre costruirlo."
La situazione mondiale del nostro tempo, segnata dall'aumento di forme di razzismo e da una feroce contrapposizione politica, rivela quanto sia opportuno, e inevitabile, conoscere i meccanismi che portano gli uomini a individuare sempre nuovi avversari.
Umberto Eco, in questo intervento civile di straordinaria attualità, riflette sul nostro bisogno di avere, sempre e comunque, un nemico da attaccare: dalle invettive degli oratori antichi al culto medievale per l'integritas, una brillante divagazione letteraria che attraversa l'Iliade e i romanzi di James Bond, la caccia alle streghe, la propaganda bellica del passato e i populismi del presente.
La situazione mondiale del nostro tempo, segnata dall'aumento di forme di razzismo e da una feroce contrapposizione politica, rivela quanto sia opportuno, e inevitabile, conoscere i meccanismi che portano gli uomini a individuare sempre nuovi avversari.
Umberto Eco, in questo intervento civile di straordinaria attualità, riflette sul nostro bisogno di avere, sempre e comunque, un nemico da attaccare: dalle invettive degli oratori antichi al culto medievale per l'integritas, una brillante divagazione letteraria che attraversa l'Iliade e i romanzi di James Bond, la caccia alle streghe, la propaganda bellica del passato e i populismi del presente.
- GenresNonfiction
1 pages, Audiobook
Published March 11, 2021
25 people want to read
About the author
Umberto Eco
946 books12k followersUmberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes.
Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine L'Espresso beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has continued to gain recognition for his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism", where Eco lists fourteen general properties he believes comprise fascist ideologies.
Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine L'Espresso beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has continued to gain recognition for his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism", where Eco lists fourteen general properties he believes comprise fascist ideologies.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 20, 2024
Il libro è la trascrizione di una conferenza tenuta da Eco nel 2008, davvero brillante, parla della necessità di costruire nemici per riconoscersi come diversi da loro, del fatto che come società tendiamo da sempre a cercare nemici (sia con gli ebrei, sia con le varie guerre, con le streghe...). Questi nemici si formano con modelli sempre uguali che si ripetono nel tempo. Una lettura interessantissima, davvero!
August 22, 2024
My version was a little tome, very practical to keep in a bag for multiple re-readings, since it is very palatable food for thought.
It all resumes to: why have enemies? And if it is important to have an enemy, how do you get an enemy?
Result of a short exchange with a cab-driver who wanted to know who the enemy of Italy is, and Eco not having but the obvious post-WW2 years of peace in his country, this prompts the realization that the concept of "enemy" has a practical role: it helps outline and bolster the idea of a group, category - in the stance of the cab-driver, the nation.
An enemy helps become aware of oneself, know oneself better and what one stands for. And the resulting question pops up: what do you if you don't have an enemy?
This essay is the attempt of an answer.
Thus begins a walk through history, with stops on milestones such as antisemitism, the witch-hunts, the "enemy-smiths" (I don't know if this term exists) that were the dictatorships.
The enemy is always the Other. The "otherness" is cause to exclude, stigmatize, qualify as scapegoats, vent our frustrations and hatred.
(Eco aptly quotes the "Two Minutes Hate" episode in Orwell's "1984".)
What is still offered is a possible manner to deal with enemies. Without grabbing weapons or starting wars.
Says Eco [sorry if the translation is shaky, I hope it renders the meaning]
"The ethical instance manifests not when we pretend there are no enemies, but when we try to understand them, walk in their shoes.
[...] Trying to understand the Other means destroying their clichés, without denying or cancelling their otherness.
[...]We can only recognize ourselves in the presence of the Other."
Because if we don't or refuse to do so, we can end up "Behind Closed Doors", like in Sartre's play. And what this play is a metaphor for, we know.
Which only makes Eco's choice of quote from the play a splendidly apt closing stance for his essay.
It all resumes to: why have enemies? And if it is important to have an enemy, how do you get an enemy?
Result of a short exchange with a cab-driver who wanted to know who the enemy of Italy is, and Eco not having but the obvious post-WW2 years of peace in his country, this prompts the realization that the concept of "enemy" has a practical role: it helps outline and bolster the idea of a group, category - in the stance of the cab-driver, the nation.
An enemy helps become aware of oneself, know oneself better and what one stands for. And the resulting question pops up: what do you if you don't have an enemy?
This essay is the attempt of an answer.
Thus begins a walk through history, with stops on milestones such as antisemitism, the witch-hunts, the "enemy-smiths" (I don't know if this term exists) that were the dictatorships.
The enemy is always the Other. The "otherness" is cause to exclude, stigmatize, qualify as scapegoats, vent our frustrations and hatred.
(Eco aptly quotes the "Two Minutes Hate" episode in Orwell's "1984".)
What is still offered is a possible manner to deal with enemies. Without grabbing weapons or starting wars.
Says Eco [sorry if the translation is shaky, I hope it renders the meaning]
"The ethical instance manifests not when we pretend there are no enemies, but when we try to understand them, walk in their shoes.
[...] Trying to understand the Other means destroying their clichés, without denying or cancelling their otherness.
[...]We can only recognize ourselves in the presence of the Other."
Because if we don't or refuse to do so, we can end up "Behind Closed Doors", like in Sartre's play. And what this play is a metaphor for, we know.
Which only makes Eco's choice of quote from the play a splendidly apt closing stance for his essay.
January 10, 2024
In attesa della vita in cui vorremo e potremo leggere l'opera omnia di Eco, intanto questi estratti circoscritti ai vari argomenti ci aiutano a sentirci un po' meno in colpa mentre passeggiano per via Zamboni o mentre spolveriamo "Come si scrive una tesi di laurea" sulla libreria.
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August 20, 2024(Per chiunque avesse prime disponibile gratis su kindle).
Analisi lucida e chiara, riordina i pensieri. Vedi fascismo eterno. Consiglio anche questi a tutti
Analisi lucida e chiara, riordina i pensieri. Vedi fascismo eterno. Consiglio anche questi a tutti
April 29, 2025
3,5* molto interessante
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews