The debate on Fascism and anti-Fascism in Italian historiography Le débat historiographique italien autour du fascisme et de l’antifascisme En Fr

Résumé En Fr

In recent years - especially since Silvio Berlusconi's electoral victory in May 2001 - a new understanding of "Fascism" and its place in Italian history has appeared in Italy. What has contributed most to this ? Is it historical research alone and most particularly that of Renzo De Felice in his monumental biography of the Duce, begun in 1965 and pursued up until the author's death in 1996 ? Or is it an interaction between this research and the media - partly inspired by the author himself - that has arisen from a general change in politics and public opinion ? Other historians and opinion-makers do not share De Felice's reappraisal either of Mussolini or of fascism's contribution to Italian life and history. What is their reaction and how do they relate to public opinion in terms of their own views on Italy's Fascist past ? These are some of the questions the article attempts to answer.

En Italie, on assiste depuis un certain temps à une mise en cause de l’antifascisme et à une révision de l’image auparavant dominante du fascisme, dont on souligne maintenant les différences par rapport au nazisme et les aspects modernisateurs. Ce « révisionnisme historique » qui tend à réhabiliter plusieurs aspects du passé fasciste, s’appuie en partie sur les travaux de l’historien Renzo De Felice, récemment disparu, et en particulier sur sa monumentale biographie de Mussolini. L’article analyse les apports positifs et ceux plus critiquables de l’œuvre de De Felice.