Captivity and Creativity - (World War II: The Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension) by Giorgia Alù & Elena Bellina

Book Synopsis

A groundbreaking volume that represents the first examination of cultural production amongst Italian prisoners of war.

Captivity and Creativity explores the artistic and material production by Italian prisoners of war (POWs) and some civilian internees who were captured by the Western Allies in 1940-43 and detained in prison camps scattered across Africa, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II. Twelve chapters discuss from different theoretical and historical angles the various artistic activities (e.g., theatre, music, visual arts, architecture, chapels, and material objects), technical contributions (e.g., maps, photography, radio), writings (e.g., memoirs, diaries, letters, and fiction), as well as the documentary evidence that resulted from the diverse experiences and transnational exchanges between the prisoners and their captors as military personnel and local civilian populations in different parts of the globe between 1940 and 1947.

The book describes the prisoners' economic importance for the Western Allied powers in their war effort to fight Nazi-Fascism, and the enforced diaspora through which POWs were moved across different allied countries. It analyzes the prisoners' daily camp life, work, and treatment before and after the 1943 Armistice, when POWs were asked to sign an agreement to renounce Fascism and become cooperators of war, underlining the different treatment reserved for cooperators of war and noncooperators of war. The book also investigates the legacy of the prisoners' artistic and material production, the cultural heritage, and the practices of memorialization (e.g., photography, monuments, museums, anniversary celebrations, exhibits) that have derived from the Italian presence in camps in different countries up to this date, through reference to groups and communities that preserve that heritage.

Review Quotes

This is a major piece of research. Its overall aim is to study--in a broad sense--the artistic, creative and other forms of material production linked to the hundreds of thousands of Italian prisoners of war who spent time in camps across the world during and after World War Two. This is a highly original collection of chapters and studies, crossing over disciplines around the core area of research as outlined above.---John Foot, Professor of Modern Italian History in the Department of Italian, University of Bristol and author of Blood and Power: The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism

About the Author

Giorgia Alù (Edited By)
Giorgia Alù is Chair of Italian Studies at the University of Sydney. She is the author of Journeys Exposed: Women's Writing, Mobility and Photography and co-editor of Enlightening Encounters: Italian Literature and Photography.

Elena Bellina (Edited By)
Elena Bellina is Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor in Italian Studies at New York University. Her research and publications focus on war and captivity studies, cultural memory, autobiographical writing, and the performing arts.