La costruzione di un mito: rituali, simboli e narrazioni dell’Impresa di Fiume (1919-1921).

This research concerns the construction of the myth of ''Fiume exploit” and its role in the political and cultural scenario of the postwar period. The aim is to identify the rituals and symbols experienced by Gabriele d'Annunzio and his "legionnaires" during the occupation of Fiume, analyzing the impact of this experience on the political debate and on the imagination of the contemporaries. The investigation focuses on the biennium 1919-1920, by deepening the relation between the demonstrations of Fiume and the events of national and international politics. The occupation of Fiume has been gone over as the construction of a "live myth", continually adapted to impose itself to the media and the public opinion. The collective liturgies of Fiume are analyzed as the result of a combination of different languages and traditions, planned to involve a broad and many-sided political outline. This reading of the exploit of Fiume allowed to see the "revolutionary” aspects in the right perspective and to confirm the predominant role played by the nationalistic movement. This allowed to reinterpret the relation between the experience of D'Annunzio, the rebellion against the liberal regime and the origins of fascism. The research dates back to the common roots of legionaries and fascists and identifies the origin of their conflict in the struggle for leadership between De Ambris and Mussolini. Hence, this reconstruction opens up new research perspectives about the relation between the Fiume exploit and the mythology of the fascist regime.