IL 'QUARTO FRONTE'. MUSICA E PROPAGANDA RADIOFONICA NELL'ITALIA DIVISA (8 SETTEMBRE 1943 - 25 APRILE 1945)

Among all the instruments of propaganda (posters, leaflets, slogans, cinema, radiophonic programs, newspapers, popular songs, etc) used during the second world war, during a conflict characterized since the beginning by countries occupied for long periods of time and a by a strongly ideological character (differently from the Great War where the political contents were mixed with traditional patriotism), the radio proved to be the most effective and impacting medium compared to any other channel. Due to this strong historiographical impact, we focused our attention in this research, on radiophonic propaganda (within which light music played a fundamental role) during the Second World War, with particular reference to the delicate transition period characterised by afflictions, devastations, and uncertainties lived by our Country between September 8th and the Liberation. The object of the study consists of the radios operating in Italy and the activities carried out inside the various stations, more or less between 1943 and 1945, when the radiophonic activity was divided in two branches, joined by clandestine radios, pseudo broadcasting stations, independent radios dedicated to specific themes concerning info-propaganda, partisan or collaborator stations. Obviously, this research must take in consideration the general analysis of EIAR born from the ashes of URI, which during the Thirties became the voice of the regime, bringing Italian radiophony, which was almost an amateur phenomenon at its origins, towards more significant levels in terms of cultural industry and instrument of political control. This work, in order to be discussed in concrete terms, must be traced back to the first years of the war, during which a communicative-informative instrument characterised by acclaiming and side tracking propaganda and popular songs, used as instrument to gain popular consent, was operating in Italy. After a quick but essential view on the methods with which EIAR deals with the war (1940-43) and the spreading phenomenon of « clandestine » radios, which listening was firmly fought by the Fascism, the following are taken in consideration: the radios restored and controlled by the Allies in Southern Italy; the radiophonic network of the new Fascist government in Northern Italy that foresees a « national » channel and different parallel broadcasting stations; some example of « collaborationist » radios which EIAR-RSI had to deal with; the limited but extraordinary broadcasting experiences during the Partisan Resistance. All of this without overlooking the fundamental steps made by Italian and allied authorities in view of a re-organization of the public radiophonic system. During these years, valuable studies on the theme of Italian radios have certainly not been missing. These are excellent contributions that certainly constitute indispensable reference points. Nonetheless, this research, deals with the theme from a different perspective, perhaps from the narrowest point of view, which intends to focus on an area which is still not yet touched by the previous historiographical surveys and add a missing piece to the entire picture on the activity of the « fourth front » between September 8th and the Liberation. The radio indeed, together with the weight that it has on the propaganda sector and the fundamental role it has in diffusing information, is also a source of entertainment and diversion in times of curfew, bombings and black market, where the impossible desire of escaping is mainly satisfied by entertainment and musical programs. The research has the purpose to reconstruct the radio sphere in Italy between 1943 and 1945, a sampling operation that could restore, through those lyrics and music, the thought of their authors and orientations towards the different perspectives offered to the country once free, the strategies and the role performed by PWB in defining the new function of the radio in the future national democracy, the interaction methods between the Officers of the Allied Forces and Italian operators, the reserves, lies and propaganda fevers of a Fascist age next to its end.