Suchergebnisse

The article proposes an analysis of atomic culture in the United States and Western Europe, during the first 20 years of the Cold War, in the light of George L. Mosse's work and approach. It shows how 'habits of mind' and the 'general mood' concerning the atomic bomb and risk of nuclear war were profoundly intertwined with deep-seated representations of the nation. It also exemplifies how the romantic attitudes toward life analyzed by Mosse – the longing for 'shelter' felt by men and women the more the world demythologized, and their need for symbols, especially connecting man with nature and its permanence – played an extremely relevant role in shaping attitudes about the 'atomic age'. The nuclear question is thus 'framed' within longer term attitudes and cultural responses to modern war, as well as put in context with Western postwar culture, as investigated by Mosse: a culture marked by a renewed fear of technology, nihilism and widespread fears of alienation, as well as the continued relevance of nationalism and respectability. The article mainly examines two national cases: the USA and France. In the final section, comparison with other European countries is proposed and some general conclusions advanced.

The chapter investigates the representations of both fears and hopes related to atomic issues in Italian mass media from 1963 to 1967, through the analysis of a selection of highly circulated mass-market magazines (representing a broad spectrum of political cultures) and of television programs broadcast by the two Italian public networks of the time. The fears of the "atomic age" are analyzed through the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which represents one of the privileged venues for both molding representations of the atomic bomb and negotiating fears. "Atomic hopes" are investigated, instead, examining the emergent fascination for the peaceful uses of atomic energy, analyzed as the catalyst for a positive perception of the atom at a time when national energy policies were at a crucial turning point.

The chapter investigates the representations of both fears and hopes related to atomic issues in Italian mass media from 1963 to 1967, through the analysis of a selection of highly circulated mass-market magazines (representing a broad spectrum of political cultures) and of television programs broadcast by the two Italian public networks of the time. The fears of the "atomic age" are analyzed through the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which represents one of the privileged venues for both molding representations of the atomic bomb and negotiating fears. "Atomic hopes" are investigated, instead, examining the emergent fascination for the peaceful uses of atomic energy, analyzed as the catalyst for a positive perception of the atom at a time when national energy policies were at a crucial turning point.

Aspetti centrali nella seconda metà del Novecento si incontrano con il nodo nucleare e con il binomio paura/fascinazione per l'atomo, rendendo l'energia atomica, con i suoi simboli e le sue rappresentazioni mediatiche (a partire dalla più nota ed inquietante, il fungo atomico), un fattore imprescindibile per comprendere l'evoluzione politica, sociale e culturale di un paese "di confine" come l'Italia nel passaggio dagli anni della ricostruzione a quelli del boom economico, dalla stagione della più aspra contrapposizione fra blocchi a quella della distensione.Partendo da questo assunto, il saggio vuole indagare il discorso mediatico che prese corpo in Italia sul tema nucleare tra gli anni del centrismo e quelli del miracolo economico, in un processo osmotico che vede i materiali indagati, da un lato, essere espressione – in una molteplicità di dimensioni – del contesto nel quale vengono prodotti; dall'altro, contribuire essi stessi a plasmare la società circostante nel suo essere, al contempo, produttrice e fruitrice ultima di questa produzione ricca e multiforme nelle forme e nei contenuti.