This article analyzes the reception of the Armenian Genocide in the contemporary Italian Protestant sources (1915-1918), mainly Methodist, Baptist, Waldensian, and non-denominational journals and magazines. It is a case study that shows how a religious minority perceived (and reflected upon) what happened to another minority. This research reveals that Italian Protestants had a “distinctive viewpoint” on the Armenian Genocide, if compared with other contemporary Italian press (Catholic magazines and national newspapers). That perspective was connected to the self-representation of the Evangelical minority in Italy. For example, the Methodist and Baptist magazines – in particular – often represented a controversialist (anti-Vatican) perspective, emphasizing an argument shared with part of the national press: that of the “pope’s silence” on the war crimes of the Central Powers. The Armenian Genocide, hence, became one of the instances where the Italian Protestants could highlight their own stance, in its connection with the Entente’s one and in its difference from the Vatican’s one (according to the way they interpreted it). The distinctive feature of the Waldensians was that of deep empathy, and almost of their identification with the Armenians (this is explicit in a source of 1896, at the time of the Hamidian massacres), in the light of the common experience of having suffered a systematic extermination plan (for Waldensians, especially in 16th-17th centuries).
L’articolo indaga la ricezione del genocidio armeno nelle fonti protestanti italiane coeve (1915-1918), in particolare nella stampa periodica delle Chiese metodiste, battiste, valdese, e nelle riviste culturali non-denominazionali. Si tratta di un caso di studio che mostra come una minoranza religiosa ha percepito quanto accaduto ad un’altra minoranza. La ricerca rivela che i protestanti italiani adottarono una prospettiva peculiare, distintiva, sul genocidio armeno, se comparata con le altre fonti periodiche italiane dell’epoca (sia cattoliche che nella stampa nazionale). Tale prospettiva si connetteva all’autorappresentazione della minoranza evangelica italiana. Ad esempio, i periodici metodisti e battisti – in particolare – mostrano spesso un’ottica controversistica, insistendo su un argomento condiviso con parte della stampa nazionale: i “silenzi del papa” sui crimini di guerra degli Imperi Centrali. Il genocidio armeno diviene allora uno dei casi in cui i protestanti italiani potevano sottolineare la propria posizione, in connessione con quella dell’Intesa e nelle sue differenze con quella vaticana (per come questa veniva interpretata). La caratteristica dei valdesi era invece quella della profonda empatia, e quasi dell’identificazione con gli armeni (esplicitata in una fonte del 1896, al tempo dei massacri hamidiani), alla luce della comune esperienza di vittime di un piano sistematico di sterminio (per quanto riguarda i valdesi, subito soprattutto nei secoli XVI-XVII).
Annese, A. (2017). The Armenian Genocide in the Italian Protestant Press (1915-1918). The Distinctive Viewpoint of a Minority. STUDI E MATERIALI DI STORIA DELLE RELIGIONI, 83(2), 436-458.
The Armenian Genocide in the Italian Protestant Press (1915-1918). The Distinctive Viewpoint of a Minority
Annese, Andrea
2017
Abstract
This article analyzes the reception of the Armenian Genocide in the contemporary Italian Protestant sources (1915-1918), mainly Methodist, Baptist, Waldensian, and non-denominational journals and magazines. It is a case study that shows how a religious minority perceived (and reflected upon) what happened to another minority. This research reveals that Italian Protestants had a “distinctive viewpoint” on the Armenian Genocide, if compared with other contemporary Italian press (Catholic magazines and national newspapers). That perspective was connected to the self-representation of the Evangelical minority in Italy. For example, the Methodist and Baptist magazines – in particular – often represented a controversialist (anti-Vatican) perspective, emphasizing an argument shared with part of the national press: that of the “pope’s silence” on the war crimes of the Central Powers. The Armenian Genocide, hence, became one of the instances where the Italian Protestants could highlight their own stance, in its connection with the Entente’s one and in its difference from the Vatican’s one (according to the way they interpreted it). The distinctive feature of the Waldensians was that of deep empathy, and almost of their identification with the Armenians (this is explicit in a source of 1896, at the time of the Hamidian massacres), in the light of the common experience of having suffered a systematic extermination plan (for Waldensians, especially in 16th-17th centuries).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.