"Insieme con Gramsci". Note sulla politica culturale di Togliatti (1947-1964)

Abstract

The Author examines how the Italian Communist Party made use of the political and literary legacy of Antonio Gramsci after the war, in particular through the interpretations of its Secretary, Palmiro Togliatti, who was the leader of the Party until his death, in August 1964. Thus we can map the political strategy of the Italian Communist Party in those years; a strategy which always had as one of its priorities the engagement of intellectuals and therefore a special emphasis on cultural policy. Through the publication of Gramsci’s works (Letters from Prison, 1947, The Prison Notebooks, 1958-1951) and through the inspiration derived from his teachings, Togliatti was able to give to the Italian Communist Party a democratic national footprint, despite its ties with the Soviet Union. Even after the great exodus of militants and Party sympathizers in 1956, Togliatti identified his old comrade, as the example to follow in order to emphasize the unique identity of the Italian Communist Party, which - it should be remembered - was the largest party in the western world.