Pop-politics: the cultural bases of Berlusconism "Berlusconism" is a key problem for contemporary Italian cultural studies. Silvio Berlusconi's political success in the last twenty years is rooted in a /long durée/ dimension of Italian society (anti-statalism, weakness of civic values), as well as in new relationships between politics and the production and consumption of popular culture. Aiming to open a wider debate on this journal, I propose here a survey of some topics raised by the cultural logic of berlusconism, like the following: a) a "pop-politics" in which "higher" and "lower" spheres, serious debates and trash show business, public and private concerns are constantly conflated; b) anti-intellectualism and the struggle against traditional cultural institutions; c) the return of the body as political subject -- the leader's body, but also women's bodies as object of voyeuristic desire; d) the use of the "gift" as a mediator of patronage relationships; e) the pivotal role of commercial television in supporting electoral successes and in creating a "berlusconian" ethics and aesthetics.
Pop-politica: le basi culturali del berlusconismo
DEI, FABIO
2011-01-01
Abstract
Pop-politics: the cultural bases of Berlusconism "Berlusconism" is a key problem for contemporary Italian cultural studies. Silvio Berlusconi's political success in the last twenty years is rooted in a /long durée/ dimension of Italian society (anti-statalism, weakness of civic values), as well as in new relationships between politics and the production and consumption of popular culture. Aiming to open a wider debate on this journal, I propose here a survey of some topics raised by the cultural logic of berlusconism, like the following: a) a "pop-politics" in which "higher" and "lower" spheres, serious debates and trash show business, public and private concerns are constantly conflated; b) anti-intellectualism and the struggle against traditional cultural institutions; c) the return of the body as political subject -- the leader's body, but also women's bodies as object of voyeuristic desire; d) the use of the "gift" as a mediator of patronage relationships; e) the pivotal role of commercial television in supporting electoral successes and in creating a "berlusconian" ethics and aesthetics.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
