This article offers an overview of the readings of Marco Polo’s ventures offered to the Italian public opinion during the Fascist era. Marco Polo’s image was adapted to the needs of patriotic pedagogy, propaganda of Fascist values and colonial aspirations, and the attempt to redefine Rome’s political, economic and cultural role in the world. In a complex mix of academic and popular readings, the official discourse transformed the Venetian traveller into a symbol of Italianness in China in order to legitimize Fascist Italy’s ambitions and expectations and stress its distinct identity in comparison with the other western powers. Although Chinese reception of this discourse was limited by several factors at that time, this process certainly helped establish Marco Polo’s iconic significance in Sino-Italian cultural diplomacy well into the twentieth century.
Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-6702-3093
Titolo del capitolo
An Italian Hero for China. Reading Marco Polo in the Fascist Era
Autori
Laura De Giorgi
Lingua
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-579-0.10
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2022
Copyright
© 2022 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Titolo del libro
Rereading Travellers to the East
Sottotitolo del libro
Shaping Identities and Building the Nation in Post-unification Italy
Curatori
Beatrice Falcucci, Emanuele Giusti, Davide Trentacoste
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
232
Anno di pubblicazione
2022
Copyright
© 2022 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-579-0
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-578-3
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-579-0
eISBN (epub)
978-88-5518-580-6
Collana
Connessioni. Studies in Transcultural History
ISSN della collana
2975-0393
e-ISSN della collana
2975-0261