Gino Moliterno. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Italian Culture

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

of Bene’s most intense obsessions and a text which he produced on the stage, in film, for the

radio and also for television).

Prosperi, M. (1978) ‘Contemporary Italian Theatre’, The Drama Review 22(1):17–32 (Bene in the

context of other Italian experimental theatre).

GINO MOLITERNO

Benedetti, Arrigo

b. 1 June 1910, Lucca; d. 26 October 1976, Rome

Novelist and journalist

A journalist of particular importance—he was variously editor of and contributor to

prestigious newspapers and magazines such as L’Europeo, L’Espresso, Il Mondo and

Paese Sera—Benedetti’s narrative style is, not surprisingly, characterized by a realistic

and immediate language. His meticulous attention to everyday reality is manifest in all

his novels from I misteri della città (The Mysteries of the City) (1941) to Gli occhi

(Eyes) (1970). In Rosso al vento (Red in the Wind), his last book of fiction, the

representation of aspects of life in Italy during the Second World War is so vivid that a

comparison with neorealist cinema (see neorealism) becomes inevitable. The polyphonic

nature of the narrative in this last novel, where myriads of voices intermingle constantly

so as to enhance the sense of fear and uncertainty gripping the characters, is also

reminiscent of other fictional representations of human tragedy, such as Manzoni’s

portrayal of the plague in Milan in I promessi sposi (The Betrothed).

PAOLO BARTOLONI

Benedetti Michelangeli, Arturo

b. 5 January 1920, Brescia; d. 12 June 1995, Lugano, Switzerland

Widely regarded as the greatest Italian pianist of the twentieth century, Benedetti

Michelangeli began playing violin at the age of three but soon turned to the piano, which

he studied first at the Venturi Musical Institute at Brescia and then at the Milan

Conservatory. He graduated with full honours in 1933, aged fourteen. Six years later, he

achieved worldwide renown when he won the International Piano Competition at

Geneva, being favourably compared to Liszt. A volatile and eccentric personality who

avoided interviews and always cultivated an air of reserve, he was totally devoted to his

instrument, although in younger days he had nurtured a passion for racing cars. A

virtuoso and a perfectionist who stunned audiences with his exquisite technique and

startling interpretations, he was also well-known for unexpectedly cancelling

performances or interrupting recitals if he suspected conditions to be less than optimal.

Entries A–Z 81



After being an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher who had created new courses and

summer schools during the 1960s, Benedetti Michelangeli abandoned Italy for

Switzerland in 1968, following an incident in which his two pianos were confiscated by

authorities in a bankruptcy suit. He returned to Italy on only three occasions, twice to

play in the Vatican and once in his native Brescia.

GINO MOLITERNO

Benetton

Legend has it that a yellow sweater knitted for Luciano Benetton by his sister Giuliana

was responsible for the birth of the clothing empire. The response the sweater generated

in a still predominantly black and white world motivated Luciano and Giuliana Benetton

to embark on a coloured wool venture with the assistance of their two brothers, Gilberto

and Carlo. The business, featuring colourful and reasonably priced knitwear, expanded

quickly from the initial shop in Belluno (1969) to the opening of a Paris store in 1970.

The key factor to the company’s rapid success was the technique of dying wool after,

rather than before, producing the sweaters, which allowed the Benettons to adjust the

colours to rapidly changing fashion trends. By the end of the 1970s, Benetton’s three

factories in and around Ponzano were the largest consumers of pure virgin wool in the

world.

Motivated by internationalization and diversification, Benetton labels targeted distinct

groups, including children, young adults and women. While initially appealing to popular

taste, Benetton colours made a splash in high society as well. Sylvester Stallone, Dustin

Hoffman, Sally Field and Jackie Onassis became regular customers of the New York

store on East 57th Street. When Diana, Princess of Wales was photographed coming out

of Benetton’s London store, a British newspaper ran the headline ‘Benetton dresses both

queens and housewives’. But Benetton did not limit itself to clothing. It entered the shoe

business with yet another label, Tip-Top, and began sponsoring sports teams, starting

with a rugby team in 1978, then basketball, Formula 1 and volleyball teams.

Luciano Benetton, formerly a senator for the Republican Party (see PRI), abandoned

politics and has dedicated himself to an empire which now operates in 120 different

countries and has moved into many sectors. Benetton sports manages the sports labels it

has acquired, which include Killer Loop Prince and Rollerblade. Benetton-owned major

distribution and fast food industries include the Euromercato, Supermercati GS and

Autogrill and, most recently, a multiple restaurant along the lines of a multiplex cinema,

with slow food and fast food co-existing with bars and even a Feltrinelli bookstore in the

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, a true monument to the family’s diversification.

Other areas of investment are small companies specialising in hydra massage showers

and tubs, the produce industry, multimedia firms, ice cream and olive oil. With plans in

place to buy airports, highways and railroad stations, Luciano Benetton claims he is not

buying Italy but supporting a sort of privatization which will improve services in Italy by

providing faster highways and more punctual trains.

Encyclopedia of contemporary italian culture 82

Sometimes labelled the McDonald’s of the fashion industry, Benetton owes at least

part its huge international success to Oliviero Toscani, the mastermind behind the

advertising campaigns that have turned Benetton into a phenomenon studied in business

schools the world over. In 1989, Benetton ads replaced their products with powerful and

controversial images of AIDS sufferers, environmental disasters, terrorism and racism.

While some have accused him of commodifying social issues, Toscani sees his ads as

heightening social consciousness. In 1999, the Benetton and UN logos appeared side by

side in a newspaper advertisement featuring an image of a red bloodstain on a white field.

Explaining it as a response to the crisis in Kosovo, Toscani claims the ad is an antiwar

message meant to ‘stain’ the pages of newspapers with the very images that advertising

attempts to wipe from the human conscience.

BERNADETTE LUCIANO

Benevolo, Leonardo

b. 1923, Orta, Novara

Architect, urbanist and historian

One of Italy’s most internationally renowned architectural and urban historians, Benevolo

is a prolific author whose numerous books on urban history, theory, planning and design

have been widely translated into English and are now standard reading in academic

programmes of urban and regional planning. He has taught at the Universities of Rome,

Florence, Venice and Palermo as well as being visiting professor at the Universities of

Yale, Columbia, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. He has contributed extensively to

architectural magazines, participated in planning debates and been a consultant for the

planning of cities such as Brescia, Urbino and Ferrara. Although Benevolo’s ‘clean

continuity’ approach has been criticized, he is highly respected for his method of

interconnecting architectural production and professional tendencies, and presenting them

within their socioeconomic and political contexts.

Further reading

Benevolo, L. (1985) The History of the City, trans. G.Culverwell, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

(numerous and detailed case studies of various urban patterns and evolution, extensively

illustrated).

GORDANA KOSTICH

Entries A–Z 83



Benigni, Roberto

b. 27 October 1952, Castiglion Fiorentino (Arezzo)

Comedian, actor and film director

The most popular and critically-acclaimed of the ‘new comedians’ who emerged in Italy

during the early 1980s, Benigni began performing theatrical monologues in the 1970s

before moving to film and television. Giuseppe Bertolucci, who wrote some of his

material, also directed him in his first film, Berlinguer ti voglio bene (I Love You,

Berlinguer) in 1977. While continuing to perform his manic and surreal humour on stage

and television, Benigni also began to direct himself in his own films in the 1980s, most of

which achieved significant boxoffice success and made him into something of a cult

figure. The clever and enormously popular Non ci resta che piangere (Nothing Left to Do

but Cry) (1986), made with fellow comedian Massimo Troisi, was followed by Il piccolo

diavolo (The Little Devil) in 1989 and the even more popular Johnny Stecchino in 1991.

At the same time Benigni also achieved international renown by playing major roles in

Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law (1985) and the less successful The Son of the Pink Panther

(Blake Edwards, 1993). With Benigni’s international popularity still growing, his

holocaust comedy La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) was awarded the grand prize at

Cannes in 1998 and went on to win the Oscar as Best Foreign Film in 1999, with Benigni

also winning a personal Oscar as best actor.

GINO MOLITERNO

Benni, Stefano

b. 12 August 1947, Bologna

Novelist and journalist

Benni’s first appearance dates to the 1970s, when he contributed to magazines and

newspapers such as Panorama, Il Mago and il manifesto, and published several books of

political and cultural satire. While continuing to vent his polemical humour on

contemporary society, Benni turned ever more to literature, proving to be an inventive

and unpredictable storyteller. His rich, often invented language registers the unceasing

motion of a fertile and fantastic imagination which is nevertheless well grounded in

reality, since the author maintains his leading role of witnessing—often in a cynical

manner—his own times. His successful novels and surreal short stories range from

science fiction (Terra! 1981) to mystery (Comici spaventati guerrieri) (Funny Frightened

Warriors) (1986), and foresee a world where the ‘human’ eventually reconciles itself with

the automatism of a technological society. Mirroring both the curiosity and the

consternation of the post-1968 generation, his books have consistently met with the

public’s bemused appreciation.

Encyclopedia of contemporary italian culture 84

Further reading

Degli-Esposti, C. (1995) ‘Interview with Stefano Benni: A Postmodern Moraliste’, Italian

Quarterly, Winter-Spring, 99–105 (a wide-ranging interview with bibliographical references).

FRANCESCA PARMEGGIANI

Berio, Luciano

b. 24 October 1925, Oneglia

Composer

Widely regarded as Italy’s foremost postwar composer, Berio draws extensively on ideas

from contemporary culture and musical tradition in order to create a unique and

sophisticated synthesis. Coming from a musical family, he had lessons on the organ with

Ernesto Berio from an early age. He then attended the Conservatorium Giuseppe Verdi in

Milan (1945–50), where he studied composition with Giorgio Ghedini and conducting

with Carlo Maria Giulini. He subsequently studied with compatriot Luigi Dallapiccola at

the Berkshire Music Centre, Tanglewood, Massachusetts. While in the USA in 1950, he

married soprano Cathy Berberian, who inspired him to produce innovative vocal music

including Circles and Folk Songs. In 1954 he undertook study at the Ferienkurse für

Neue Musik (New Music Masterclass) in Darmstadt, and developed contacts with other

leaders of the European avantgarde such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Following his studies, Berio taught at a number of schools including the Berkshire

Music Centre, Tanglewood, the Dartington Summer School (England), Mills College

(Oakland, California) and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. With Bruno

Maderna, he founded the electronic music studio ‘Studio Fonologia Musicale’ at the

RAI in Milan in 1955, and later collaborated on the television series C’è musica e musica

(There’s Music and Music) (1971).

Berio worked with Pierre Boulez at the studios of IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de

Coordination Acoustique/Musique) (Institute for Acoustic and Musical Research and

Coordination) in Paris in 1974–80, and has been Artistic Director of a number of

orchestras and music institutions including the Israel Chamber Orchestra (1975), the

Accademia Filarmonica Romana, (1976) the Orchestra Regionale Toscana (1982), the

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (1984) and Tempo Reale in Florence (1987). He received an

Honorary Doctorate in Music from City University, London, in 1980 and was awarded

the 34th Premio Italia (Italia Prize) in 1982.

Key features of Berio’s work are the distinctive and experimental use of texts by

contemporaries such as Beckett, Eco and Sanguineti (for example, Opera and

Laborintus II), demandingly complex virtuoso writing for instruments and voices (as in

the Sequenza series of works for soloists), a tendency to re-use and expand ideas—and

even whole works—in subsequent compositions (for example, the Chemins series) and

the use of quotation and stylistic references to music by other composers. His five-

movement work for orchestra and voices, Sinfonia (1967–68), was written for the New

Entries A–Z 85



York Philharmonic and the Swingle Singers, and stands as a landmark in twentieth-

century music. The work draws on a diverse range of texts including anthropological

writings by Claude Lévi-Strauss and, in its celebrated third movement, presents an

exhilarating collage of musical quotations.

Further reading

Osmond-Smith, D. (1991) Berio, Oxford: Oxford University Press (a detailed study of the

composer).

Steinitz, R. (1992) ‘Luciano Berio’, in B.Morton and P.Collins (eds), Contemporary Composers,

Chicago: St James Press (for a comprehensive list and a discussion of Berio’s works).

ANDREW SCHULTZ

Berlinguer, Enrico

b. 15 May 1922, Sassari; d. 11 June 1984, Brescia

Politician

Enrico Berlinguer was the most popular and controversial postwar leader of the Italian

Communist Party (PCI). One and a half million people attended his funeral after his

untimely death in 1984, a tribute to his rare mix of conviction, tolerance and integrity.

Yet his political strategy increasingly explicit recognition of the constraints of West

European economic and political institutions—aroused strong opposition within the

party. Likewise, the overall balance sheet concerning his leadership—which covered both

the single greatest electoral advance in the party’s history in 1976 and the calamitous loss

of political direction in the early 1980s—remains fiercely contested.

Berlinguer came from a Sardinian family, ennobled in 1777, which produced a stream

of political and academic figures. His brother Giovanni was a leading Communist MP

and public health specialist; and his cousins include a rector of the University of Siena

(Luigi), a minister in Berlusconi’s government of 1994 (Sergio) and a President of the

Republic (Francesco Cossiga). Berlinguer’s uninterrupted rise through the PCI hierarchy

prompted his colleague Giancarlo Pajetta to observe that ‘[he] enrolled very young in the

leadership of the PCI’ (Gorresio 1976:5). He started as secretary of the Sassari youth

section in 1943, joined the Central Committee in 1945 and became an MP in 1968. In

1972, as the most prominent representative of the post-Resistance generation, he

succeeded Luigi Longo as generalsecretary, a position he held until his death.

A moderate within his party, Berlinguer took charge of the PCI in extreme

circumstances. The extraparliamentary Left had rejected its claims to be a force for

genuine change; the turbulent ‘Hot Autumn’, and the independent political role

demanded by trade unions had weakened its links with working-class supporters, and

the growth of terrorism and economic crises of the 1970s confronted the party with

difficult political choices. Berlinguer’s reputation varies according to whether his

Encyclopedia of contemporary italian culture 86

responses—the historic compromise, mass mobilization to defend against violence a

state in the hands of his political opponents, and acceptance of economic sacrifices by the

working class—are regarded as necessary in the circumstances, insufficiently revisionist

or a fatal capitulation to DC power. Their unpopularity certainly cost the party dearly in

the 1979 elections. This spurred Berlinguer, largely on his own initiative, to switch to

open confrontation with the DC, an emphasis on the ‘moral distinctiveness’ of the PCI,

and erratic support for shopfloor radicalism. None of these changes revived the PCI’s

fortunes, nor did Berlinguer’s completion of the PCI’s detachment from the Soviet Union

and corresponding enthusiasm for an evanescent ‘Eurocommunism’ in the mid-1970s,

and a blunt statement in 1981 that the October Revolution had exhausted its innovative

potential. A decade after his death, post-communists remained deeply divided over their

lost leader’s role in the evolution of Italian communism.

Further reading

Gorresio, V. (1976) Berlinguer, Milan: Feltrinelli.

Hellman, S. (1988) Italian Communism in Transition: The Rise and Fall of the Historic

Compromise in Turin, 1975–1980, New York: Oxford University Press (the Historic

Compromise in theory and practice).

Tatò, A. (ed.) (1984) Conversazioni con Berlinguer (Conversations with Berlinguer), Rome:

Editori Riuniti.

Valentini, C. (1987) Berlinguer il segretario (Secretary Berlinguer), Milan: Mondadori.

DAVID MOSS

Berlusconi, Silvio

b. 29 September 1936, Milan

Entrepreneur and politician

Of lower middle-class origins, Silvio Berlusconi had by the beginning of the 1990s

become one of the richest of Italian entrepreneurs and owner of the second largest Italian

business group, Fininvest. In 1994, he entered politics with spectacular success, and as

the leader of a newly-formed political movement called Forza Italia, he became for a

short time the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy.

Berlusconi began in the late 1960s in the construction sector with a number of real

estate projects, including the construction of the satellite cities Milano 2 and Milano 3. At

the beginning of the 1980s he turned his attention to the private television sector, which

was at the time still largely unregulated. He developed his first televi sion network,

Canale Cinque, in 1980, and subsequently bought the networks Italia Uno (1982) and

Rete Quattro (1984) from other private owners. By the mid-1980s, Berlusconi’s control

over the Italian private television system was largely consolidated and his three channels

directly challenged the public-service broadcaster RAI in a daily battle for audiences and

Entries A–Z 87



advertising revenue. Fininvest’s broadcasting strategy was a blend of consumerism and

glamour, modernity and family values, and focused on movies and telefilms imported

from the USA, Brazilian telenovelas, Japanese cartoons, variety and quiz shows, and

endless advertising.

During the 1980s Berlusconi expanded into other sectors of the industry of popular

culture and entertainment, such as cinema and music. Further-more, through the

acquisition of the Milanese conservative daily Il Giornale (1979), the foundation of the

publishing house Silvio Berlusconi Editore (1986), and the acquisition of Mondadori

(1991), Berlusconi’s presence was also established in the publishing sector. Between

weekly and monthly magazines, Berlusconi’s two publishing houses marketed around

twenty-five of the best-sold Italian periodicals, including the television guide TV Sorrisi e

Canzoni, with a readership of more than 13 million. With the acquisition of the soccer

team AC Milan in 1986, and the ongoing series of successes the team enjoyed afterwards,

Berlusconi crowned his career as entrepreneur in the field of mass entertainment and

added the final touches to his public image of self-made, all-powerful winner.

On 26 January 1994, on the eve of the national elections, Berlusconi suddenly

resigned from the position of President of Fininvest (which, however, remained a family-

held company) and entered the political field at the head of Forza Italia, a brand new

political party—with a name, significantly, culled from a football slogan—which he had

been covertly organizing during the previous six months. The outcome of an intense two-

month electoral campaign, which saw Forza Italia employing the most advanced

techniques of political marketing and fully exploiting all the potential of Fininvest’s

media, was a 21 per cent share of the vote and the elevation of Berlusconi to the

presidency of the Council of Ministers. However, due to the withdrawal of the Northern

League from the governing coalition, Berlusconi’s presidency lasted only seven months

(10 May 1994–22 December 1994), and the subsequent national election of April 1996

saw him relegated to the role of leader of the opposition.

Having entered politics, Berlusconi was accused of concentrating excessive economic

and political resources in his hands, thus creating a great number of potential conflicts of

interest. Nevertheless, in June 1995, three referenda concerning the private television

system—which, if passed, would have reduced Berlusconi’s concentration of ownership

as well as the revenue of his media empire—were defeated by the majority of the Italian

voters. The problem of the potential conflict of interest seemed to find a partial solution

one year later with the entry into the stock market of Mediaset, the holding company of

the Berlusconi’s three televisions, even if Berlusconi himself retained the majority of the

shares.

Despite having been convicted of corruption while president of Fininvest, Berlusconi

remained a national political figure and the symbol of the postmodern erosion of the

demarcation between business, politics, media and popular culture.

See also: broadcasting; private television

Further reading

Fiori, G. (1995) Il venditore. Storia di Silvio Berlusconi e della Fininvest (The Salesman: The

History of Silvio Berlusconi and Fininvest), Milan: Garzanti.

Encyclopedia of contemporary italian culture 88

Schlesinger, P. (1990) ‘The Berlusconi Phenomenon’, in Z.Baranski and R.Lumley (eds), Culture

and Conflict in Postwar Italy, London: Macmillan.

EMANUELA POLI

Bernabei, Ettore

b. 16 May 1921, Florence

Politician and manager

After being editor of the Christian Democrat newspaper Il Popolo from 1956–60,

Bernabei was appointed general manager of the RAI by Amintore Fanfani. He directed

the national broadcaster until 1974—in effect throughout the entire period of its

monopoly (see broadcasting)—and thus left such an indelible stamp on Italian television

culture that the period is often called simply the ‘Bernabei era’. With Italian television

still in its infancy, he established the idea of regular daily programming with the aim of

making television the new hearth of the Italian family. Throughout the 1960s, while

firmly exercising DC power, he increased progressive cultural programming in order to

weaken opposition from the Communists. Subsequently judged as something of an

enlightened despot, he kept tight control of the organization but greatly expanded its

scope and professionalism, although this eventually led to huge budget deficits. After

leaving the RAI in 1974 he became active in producing films for television, his best-

known to date being the mega-production La Sacra Bibbia (The Holy Bible).

RICCARDO VENTRELLA

Berto, Giuseppe

b. 27 December 1914, Mogliano, Veneto; d. 1 November 1978, Rome

Novelist and scriptwriter

A volunteer in the African campaign during the Second World War, Berto was captured

by the Allies and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Hereford, Texas, where he began to

write short stories and the novel Il cielo è rosso (The Sky is Red), published upon his

return to Italy in 1946. From the neorealist mode of his 1940s and 1950s narrative, Berto

turned to psychoanalysis, which became the theoretical frame for his more introspective

novels such as Il male oscuro (Incubus) (1964), a narrative based on his own experience

and consisting in the breathless monologue of a main character tracing the reasons of his

neurosis. In his later fiction, Berto discussed environmental issues (Oh Serafina!, 1973)

and explored religious themes (La gloria (Glory), 1978).

Entries A–Z 89



Further reading

Artico, E. and Lepri, L. (eds) (1989) Giuseppe Berto: la sua opera, il suo tempo (Giuseppe Berto:

His Work and Times), Florence: Olschki.

FRANCESCA PARMEGGIANI

Bertolucci, Attilio

b. 18 November 1911, San Lazzaro, Parma

Poet, critic and translator

Father of film director Bernardo Bertolucci, Attilio Bertolucci is recognized as one of

Italy’s finest poets. His early poetry, published in the 1930s, was immediately hailed by

fellow poet Eugenio Montale, and explores elegiac themes and the languid portrayal of

seasonal rhythms that characterize all his work. After the Second World War, Bertolucci

moved to Rome where he taught art history and became a consultant for Garzanti and for

RAI (state television). In 1951, he was awarded the prestigious Premio Viareggio (see

literary prizes) for his collection La capanna Indiana (The Indian Hut). With Viaggio

d’inverno (Winter Voyage), published in 1971, Bertolucci modernized his language and

prosody without losing the elegiac tone of his verse. A regular contributor to the national

daily La Repubblica, he has also published collected essays in Viaggi fotografici di

Giuseppe Michelini (1873–1951) (Photographic Voyages of Giuseppe Michelini 1873–

1951) (1981) and Aritmie (Arrhythmias) (1991), volumes that underscore his continuing

interest in mass media and the cinema.

Further reading

Bertolucci, A. (1997) Opere, Milan: Mondadori (collected poems with a bibliography and an

introductory essay on the poet’s work).

VALERIO FERME

Bertolucci, Bernardo

b. 16 March 1941, Parma

Film director

The son of the celebrated poet Attilio Bertolucci, Bernardo first followed in his father’s

footsteps and began his artistic career as a poet. Because of obvious oedipal conflicts, he

Encyclopedia of contemporary italian culture 90