Italy in the Age of Pinocchio: Children and Danger in the Liberal Era

265 Pages·2006·2.272 MB·English

by  Carl Ipsen (auth.)

Italian and Italian American Studies
Stanislao G.Pugliese,
Hofstra University
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This publishing initiative seeks to bring the latest scholarship in Italian and Italian American
history,literature,cinema,and cultural studies to a large audience of specialists,general
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esteemed senior scholars are advisors to the series editor.
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University ofChicago University ofConnecticut
FRED GARDAPHÉ PHILIP V.CANNISTRARO+
Stony Brook University Queens College and the Graduate School,CUNY
JOSEPHINE GATTUSO HENDIN VICTORIA DeGRAZIA
New York University Columbia University
Queer Italia: Same-Sex Desire in Italian Literature and Film
edited by Gary P.Cestaro
July 2004
Frank Sinatra: History,Identity,and Italian American Culture
edited by Stanislao G.Pugliese
October 2004
The Legacy ofPrimo Levi
edited by Stanislao G.Pugliese
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Italian Colonialism
edited by Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Mia Fuller
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Mussolini's Rome: Rebuilding the Eternal City
Borden W.Painter Jr.
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Representing Sacco and Vanzetti
edited by Jerome H.Delamater and Mary Anne Trasciatti
September 2005
Carlo Tresca: Portrait ofa Rebel
Nunzio Pernicone
October 2005
Italy in the Age ofPinocchio: Children and Danger in the Liberal Era
Carl Ipsen
May 2006
The Empire ofStereotypes: Germaine de Stael and the Idea ofItaly
May 2006
Divorce,Church,and State in Modern Italy,1860–1964
Mark Seymour
forthcoming,October 2006
Race and the Nation in Liberal Italy
Aliza Wong
forthcoming,October 2006
Italy in the Age of Pinocchio
Children and Danger in the
Liberal Era
Carl Ipsen
ITALYINTHEAGEOFPINOCCHIO
© Carl Ipsen,2006
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2006 978-1-4039-7301-6
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2006 by
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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Union and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-53426-5 ISBN 978-1-4039-8302-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403983022
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ipsen,Carl.
Italy in the age of Pinocchio :children and danger in the liberal era /
Carl Ipsen.
p.cm.––(Italian and Italian American studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Poor children––Italy––History––19th century.2.Poor
children––Services for––Italy––History––19th century.I.Title.II.Italian
and Italian American studies (Palgrave Macmillan (Firm))
HV774.A6167 2006
362.70945'09034––dc22 2005056605
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:April 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Michael and Benji
who happily aren’t part ofthese stories
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
List ofFigures and Tables viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:Pinocchio,Child in Danger/Dangerous Child 1
1. Abandoned Children 15
2. Emigrating Children 51
3. Working Children 85
4. Children behind Bars:Reformatories and
Juvenile Delinquency 123
5. Salviamo il fanciullo! 165
Epilogue:From Pinocchioto Cuore,Children inside
the Margins 197
Notes 207
Works Cited 235
Index 253
List of Figures and Tables
Figure
1.1 ‘Non-recognized’illegitimates and abandoned infants,
1884–1914 23
Tables
3.1 Italian Child Labor Laws 86
3.2 1900 Child Labor Law proposals 114
5.1 Childsaving Institutions and dates 176
5.2 Protective societies for girls 185
Acknowledgments
As some readers will know,projects of historical research and writing
tend to be long ones.Over the years that I have worked on this book
I have enjoyed useful advise from friends,colleagues,family,students,and
the staffs of numerous libraries and other institutions in Rome,
Bloomington,and elsewhere.If I were to try to name them now I would
certainly leave some out and afterward regret it.I’ll play it safe then and
thank you all collectively and anonymously. I hope you know who you
are. Institutional support is instead easier to identify. Throughout
theproject I have enjoyed support,including grants and leave,from my
home institution,Indiana University.The project got off the ground,in
some sense, while I was a fellow at the American Academy at Rome.
Without that sort ofsupport,this sort ofwork—for what it is worth—would
be impossible.
Bloomington 2006