Work and songs during the Italian Fascism

One of the central aspects in the ideology of Italian Fascism was the emphasis on the importance of work, mostly during the “autarchy”, a period of economical difficulties, after the international sanctions. Mussolini promoted many propagandistic campaigns in order to convince the population to increase the national agricultural and industrial production (Mussolini himself was filmed working in a wheat grass field. Many popular songs were composed on the topic of work. The article focus on two of these aspects: one is the “wonderful” life of a worker and the other will deal with the problem of accidents in the factories.. The music has an important role in the transmission of meaning. In particular there is a contrast between the emphatic style in the first song (where some symbols of the rural soundscape are used), the tragic tango in the second and, in the third, a Charleston rhythm in the “modern” American style. The songs will be analysed and contextualised in different periods of the regime.