Abstract
How did Italian intellectuals interpret and evaluate the process of détente? How did they react to it? This chapter aims at dealing with this issue, especially focusing on the case of Augusto Del Noce, without doubt one of the most important protagonists of Italian intellectual life and Catholic culture following the Second World War. In this chapter the evolution of Del Noce’s position is described in three main phases: (1) détente as an expression of reverse colonialism (1967–1969); (2) détente as the death of the sacred in Europe, especially because of the United States (1970–1973); (3) détente as “moral Finlandization”, especially because of the Soviet Union (1974–1978). In conclusion, this chapter finds out that the attitude of Del Noce—defined by the author as a Cold War intellectual—toward the détente reflected positions and worries that were very common in Italian (and not only) culture during those years.
This chapter presents the first conclusions of broader research carried out by the author on Italian Culture Put to the Test of the Cold War: the Case of Augusto Del Noce. In this chapter the author has indicated only a few essential references to the analyses elaborated by Del Noce before and after the period taken into account here and a few fundamental bibliographical references to the academic analyses (mainly based on a philosophical approach) dealing with Del Noce’s thought and intellectual biography. For useful bibliographical information, see Massimo Borghesi, Augusto Del Noce. La legittimazione critica del moderno (Genoa-Milan: Marietti, 2011). Two final preliminary remarks: with regard to Del Noce’s articles later republished in books, the author has adopted the titles used when the articles were republished; unless otherwise indicated, the author refers in the text only to Del Noce’s writings.
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Notes
- 1.
Bjørn Thomassen and Rosario Forlenza , “Christianity and Political Thought: Augusto Del Noce and the Ideology of Christian Democracy in Post-War Italy”, Journal of Political Ideologies 21, no. 2, 2016: 182. This “lack of external visibility” may possibly be explained, first of all, by the fact that “his writings were never translated into English”. In fact, only very recently “has a volume been made available in English including a selection of Del Noce’s essays and lectures” (ibidem): The Crisis of Modernity, with an introduction by Carlo Lancellotti (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014). After this chapter was submitted, an important book published by Del Noce at the beginning of the 1970s was translated in English: The Age of Secularization, edited and translated by Carlo Lancellotti (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017).
- 2.
See also Augusto Del Noce, “Storia di un pensatore solitario”, interview by Massimo Borghesi and Lucio Brunelli , 30 Giorni, no. 4, April, 1984, later republished in Giuseppe Ceci and Lorella Cedroni , eds., Filosofia e Democrazia in Augusto Del Noce (Rome: Cinque Lune, 1993), 223–233.
- 3.
Thomassen and Forlenza, “Christianity and Political Thought”, 181.
- 4.
Thomassen and Forlenza, “Christianity and Political Thought”, 181.
- 5.
Rocco Buttiglione , “Del Noce maestro di filosofia”, in Augusto Del Noce. Il problema della modernità (Rome: Studium, 1995), 14.
- 6.
This is also the thesis of the aforementioned book by Massimo Borghesi , as shown in its title: Augusto Del Noce. La legittimazione critica del moderno.
- 7.
Thomassen and Forlenza, “Christianity and Political Thought”, 181.
- 8.
“L’identità della DC”, Il Popolo, September 30, 1975.
- 9.
Tommaso Dell’Era, Augusto Del Noce. Filosofo della politica (Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2000), 10 and 15.
- 10.
Il marxismo di Gramsci e la religione, CRIS documenti, no. 35, February, 1977, 26.
- 11.
Thomassen and Forlenza, “Christianity and Political Thought”, 189.
- 12.
Danilo Castellano , La politica tra Scilla e Cariddi. Augusto Del Noce filosofo della politica attraverso la storia (Napoli: ESI, 2010), 34.
- 13.
Cfr. Rocco Buttiglione , “Augusto Del Noce filosofo della politica italiana”, Il Nuovo Areopago 9, no. 33 (Spring 1990), 6 and Rocco Buttiglione , Augusto Del Noce. Biografia di un pensiero (Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 1991). See also Dell’Era , Augusto Del Noce.
- 14.
Thomassen and Forlenza, “Christianity and Political Thought”, 189.
- 15.
Thomassen and Forlenza, “Christianity and Political Thought”, 184.
- 16.
“Un colonialismo rovesciato”, L’Europa, October 6–13, 1967, 15.
- 17.
“Il problema politico dei cattolici” (1967), later republished in Augusto Del Noce, Il problema politico dei cattolici (Rome: Unione Italiana per il Progresso della Cultura, 1967), 7–13.
- 18.
“La collaborazione che offre il PCI”, L’Europa, February 22, 1969, 15 and 31; “Un colonialismo rovesciato”, 14–15. See also “Verso un nuovo totalitarismo”, L’Europa, March 7, 1970, 10–15.
- 19.
“Il progressismo cattolico” (1966), later republished in Del Noce, Il problema politico dei cattolici, 105.
- 20.
The analysis as well as the quotations of this third paragraph are based on and are drawn from the following contributions, which constitute Del Noce’s most important comments and analyses on détente between 1970 and 1973: “La morte del sacro”, L’Europa, September 30, 1970, 29–45; “Una nuova tentazione dei cattolici”, L’Europa, January 15, 1971, 29–39; “‘Antifascismo’ e ‘unità antifascista’”, L’Europa, April 15, 1971, 41–60; “La parola incantata: ‘inveramento’”, L’Europa, October 15, 1971, 15–34; “Delusioni e speranze”, L’Europa, March 21, 1973, later republished in A. Del Noce, Rivoluzione, Risorgimento, Tradizione, edited by Francesco Mercadante , Antonio Tarantino , and Bernardino Casadei (Milan: Giuffrè, 1993), 465–469; “Filosofia del centro-sinistra”, Gli Stati, II, no. 14 (May 1973): 3–9; “Il Vaticano e la Russia”, L’Europa, May 15–31, 1973, 61–82; “La maschera ed. il volto della distensione”, L’Europa, September 30, 1973, 49–60.
- 21.
Il Tempo, June 14, 1975.
- 22.
Augusto Del Noce, Futuro prossimo? Ipotesi, giudizi, discussioni sull’eurocomunismo (Bologna: Cappelli, 1978), 6.
- 23.
For a more in-depth analysis of Del Noce’s interpretation of Eurocommunism-Gramscism, see Giovanni Mario Ceci, “La parabola dell’eurocomunismo e i dilemmi del cattolicesimo politico: Augusto Del Noce”, in Gli intellettuali nella crisi della Repubblica, ed. Ermanno Taviani and Giuseppe Vacca (Rome: Viella, 2016), 237–264.
- 24.
Del Noce, Futuro prossimo?, 11.
- 25.
“Le avventure dell’eurocomunismo”, Il Tempo, July 4, 1977 (later republished in Scritti di Augusto Del Noce [Rome: Circolo Stato e Libertà, 1978], 45–49) and “Anatomia del dissenso”, Il Settimanale, February 8, 1978 (later republished in Scritti, 63–68). Cfr. anche “Dibattito sul comunismo internazionale”, L’Opinione, January 31, 1978 (later republished in Scritti, 59–62).
- 26.
“Il consiglio dei cinesi”, Il Tempo, March 11, 1976, later republished in Augusto Del Noce, L’Eurocomunismo e l’Italia (Rome: Europa Informazioni, 1976), 135–140.
- 27.
Leopoldo Nuti , “La politica estera italiana negli anni della distensione. Una riflessione”, in Aldo Moro nella dimensione internazionale, ed. Alfonso Alfonsi (Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2013), 45–46. For an analysis of the most common attitudes toward détente in Italian culture (and especially in Catholic culture) in those years, besides this extremely important contribution by Nuti , see the persuasive reconstruction recently elaborated by Laura Fasanaro (“Continuity and Transformation. Alternative Visions of Italy’s Three Decades of Détente”, in The Long Détente, ed. Oliver Bange and Poul Villaume [Budapest-New York: CEU Press, 2017], 155–182) and the several illuminating contributions by Guido Formigoni : “Democrazia cristiana e mondo cattolico dal neoatlantismo alla distensione”, in Un ponte sull’Atlantico, ed. Agostino Giovagnoli and Luciano Tosi (Milan: Guerini e Associati, 2003), 141–167; “La cultura internazionale della Democrazia cristiana”, in Uomini e nazioni, ed. Giorgio Petracchi (Udine: Gaspari, 2005), 96–113; “La DC e il dibattito sulla pace nel mondo cattolico postconciliare”, in Le sfide della pace, ed. Alfredo Canavero , Guido Formigoni , and Giorgio Vecchio (Milan: Led, 2008), 231–248.
Bibliography
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Castellano, Danilo. La politica tra Scilla e Cariddi. Augusto Del Noce filosofo della politica attraverso la storia. Naples: ESI, 2010.
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Ceci, Giuseppe, and Lorella Cedroni, eds. Filosofia e Democrazia in Augusto Del Noce. Rome: Cinque Lune, 1993.
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Del Noce, Augusto. L’Eurocomunismo e l’Italia. Rome: Europa Informazioni, 1976.
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Fasanaro, Laura. “Continuity and Transformation. Alternative Visions of Italy’s Three Decades of Détente.” In The Long Détente, edited by Oliver Bange and Poul Villaume, 155–182. Budapest-New York: CEU Press, 2017.
Formigoni, Guido. “Democrazia cristiana e mondo cattolico dal neoatlantismo alla distensione.” In Un ponte sull’Atlantico, edited by Agostino Giovagnoli and Luciano Tosi, 141–167. Milan: Guerini e Associati, 2003.
Formigoni, Guido. “La cultura internazionale della Democrazia cristiana.” In Uomini e nazioni, edited by Giorgio Petracchi, 96–113. Udine: Gaspari, 2005.
Formigoni, Guido. “La DC e il dibattito sulla pace nel mondo cattolico postconciliare.” In Le sfide della pace, edited by Alfredo Canavero, Guido Formigoni, and Giorgio Vecchio, 231–248. Milan: Led, 2008.
Nuti, Leopoldo. “La politica estera italiana negli anni della distensione. Una riflessione.” In Aldo Moro nella dimensione internazionale, edited by Alfonso Alfonsi, 40–62. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2013.
Thomassen, Bjørn, and Rosario Forlenza. “Christianity and Political Thought: Augusto Del Noce and the Ideology of Christian Democracy in Post-War Italy.” Journal of Political Ideologies 21, no. 2, 2016: 181–199.
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Ceci, G.M. (2019). Catholic Culture Put to the Test of Détente: The Case of Augusto Del Noce. In: Tarquini, A., Guiso, A. (eds) Italian Intellectuals and International Politics, 1945–1992. Italian and Italian American Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24938-0_7
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