MINOAN CRETE IN 20TH-CENTURY ITALIAN CULTURE

Abstract

The discovery of Minoan civilisation has not produced the same impact in Italy as elsewhere. This is due to many factors, including the existence of other ancient cultures (above all Greek and Roman, but also Etruscan, Celtic, Sicanian, etc.) which could be incorporated in processes of use and appropriation of the past. Nonetheless, Minoan culture has at times been used (among others by non-specialists) in discourses regarding the existence of a Mediterranean identity, as in the publications by Mosso, Cipriani, and Pincherle. Minoan Crete is also present, albeit to a lesser extent, in the works of Italian writers (Cecchi, Bacchelli, Brandi, Montale, De Carlo) and painters (Campigli, Novelli, Nacci), in two contrasting ways: because of its links to classical mythology or as a completely foreign civilisation, which can be used in connection with themes such as pacifism, feminism, etc.