Rethinking Made in Italy. Food and wine savoir faire and storytelling in the construction of the Italian myth (1950 - today)

Areas: SH - Social Sciences and Humanities 

Abstract:
The project aims to 'rethink' Made in Italy. Starting from the reconstruction of the factors that allowed Made in Italy to gain international fame, the project aims to demonstrate that this success was determined not only by the quality of the products but also by the ability to create an effective idea capable of driving exports of Italian products. It was a process that combined high craftsmanship, tradition of excellence and a sense of beauty, constructing a realistic imagery that re-proposed to the foreign consumer the myth of Renaissance excellence, synonymous with prestige and artistic craftsmanship. Made in Italy, despite the fragility of its agricultural and industrial production, has thus managed to develop its own originality which, in the boom years, generated a 'low-intensity myth' that has become the 'reputational capital' of Made in Italy, an important lever of competitiveness as much as a generative factor of Italian Sounding. Rethinking Made in Italy aims to propose a new key to interpreting the phenomenon. At the heart of the research there is the reconstruction of the role played by techniques and professions in the construction of the reputational capital of Made in Italy. This research will investigate 'savoir-faire' as well as training paths and professional action within the sector of activity, analysing the evolution of skills and professions. This investigation aims to verify whether and to what extent food and beverage jobs played an important role in the diffusion of good practices concerning product quality and food well-being, enhancing the peculiar Italian characteristics, in the national and international context. At the centre of the research will be the history of chefs, pastry chefs, gastronomes and oenologists, and other food professions. Alongside the study of these professions, the research will analyse the role of journalists, writers, documentary filmmakers, advertisers, trendsetters, influencers, and bloggers who, with their communication activities, facilitated the spread of the appeal of Italian imagery abroad, helping to change the stereotypes that saw Italian products as a symbol of backwardness, lack of elegance, low quality and crude, unkempt taste. This approach is not the reversal of the historiographical framework used to date but aims to offer new keys to interpreting the phenomenon. It allows to (re)contextualise the motivations for success. The intangible factors (history, art, beauty, cinema, music, sunshine) obviously remain among the elements of the claim, but they are supported by arguments that are more directly traceable to the dynamics of economic and social history. 

Duration of the project: 30/11/2023 – 30/11/2025

Co-Principal Investigator: Alessandra Cantagalli 

Principal investigator: Stefano Magagnoli (Università degli Studi di Parma) 

Partnership: Università degli Studi di Parma, Università degli Studi di Perugia 

Budget of the University of Bologna: 94.982 EUR 

ERC sectors: SH6_12 Social and economic history; SH6_9 Modern and contemporary history