The Divo and the Duce
In the climate of isolationism, nativism, democratic expansion of civic rights, and consumerism that America experienced after the First World War, Italian-born movie star Rudolph Valentino and Italy’s dictator, Benito Mussolini, became surprisingly appealing emblems of authoritarian male power. Dra...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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University of California Press
2021
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| Online Access: | OCN: 1048014934 |
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| _version_ | 1869529289770139648 |
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| author | Bertellini, Giorgio |
| author_browse | Bertellini, Giorgio |
| author_facet | Bertellini, Giorgio |
| author_sort | Bertellini, Giorgio |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In the climate of isolationism, nativism, democratic expansion of civic rights, and consumerism that America experienced after the First World War, Italian-born movie star Rudolph Valentino and Italy’s dictator, Benito Mussolini, became surprisingly appealing emblems of authoritarian male power. Drawing on extensive research in the United States and Italy, Bertellini’s work shows how the political and erotic popularity of Valentino, the Divo, and Mussolini, the Duce, was not just the result of spontaneous popular enthusiasm. Instead, Bertellini argues, it also depended on the efforts of public opinion managers, including publicists, journalists, and even ambassadors. As such, the fame of the Divo and the Duce reveals both the converging publicity work undertaken in Hollywood and Washington since the Great War and the extent to which their foreignness was put to work in managing postwar anxieties about democratic governance. Beyond the democratic celebrations of the Jazz Age, this promotion of charismatic masculinity, while short-lived, inaugurated the now-familiar convergence of popular celebrity and political authority. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-33472 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | University of California Press |
| publisherStr | University of California Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-334722025-03-27T21:19:26Z The Divo and the Duce Bertellini, Giorgio Social Science Media Studies History General thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History In the climate of isolationism, nativism, democratic expansion of civic rights, and consumerism that America experienced after the First World War, Italian-born movie star Rudolph Valentino and Italy’s dictator, Benito Mussolini, became surprisingly appealing emblems of authoritarian male power. Drawing on extensive research in the United States and Italy, Bertellini’s work shows how the political and erotic popularity of Valentino, the Divo, and Mussolini, the Duce, was not just the result of spontaneous popular enthusiasm. Instead, Bertellini argues, it also depended on the efforts of public opinion managers, including publicists, journalists, and even ambassadors. As such, the fame of the Divo and the Duce reveals both the converging publicity work undertaken in Hollywood and Washington since the Great War and the extent to which their foreignness was put to work in managing postwar anxieties about democratic governance. Beyond the democratic celebrations of the Jazz Age, this promotion of charismatic masculinity, while short-lived, inaugurated the now-familiar convergence of popular celebrity and political authority. 2021-02-10T14:08:19Z 2021-02-10T14:08:19Z 2020-12-15T13:56:41Z 2019 book OCN: 1048014934 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/43766 9780520972179 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/33472 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43766/1/external_content.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43766/1/external_content.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43766/1/external_content.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43766/1/external_content.pdf University of California Press University of California Press 10.1525/luminos.62 10.1525/luminos.62 19856893-4bf2-4e3e-9137-c7692d64e4c1 Knowledge Unlatched 9780520972179 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) University of California Press open access |
| spellingShingle | Social Science Media Studies History General thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History Bertellini, Giorgio The Divo and the Duce |
| title | The Divo and the Duce |
| title_full | The Divo and the Duce |
| title_fullStr | The Divo and the Duce |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Divo and the Duce |
| title_short | The Divo and the Duce |
| title_sort | divo and the duce |
| topic | Social Science Media Studies History General thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History |
| topic_facet | Social Science Media Studies History General thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History |
| url | OCN: 1048014934 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bertellinigiorgio thedivoandtheduce AT bertellinigiorgio divoandtheduce |