The birth of a new discipline of the past? : public history in Italy

Abstract

This essay has been published ten years after Ricerche Storiche’s special issue on Media and History coordinated by Francesco Mineccia and Luigi Tomassini (2009) which engaged, for the first time in Italy, with Public History as a field of practices. It discusses the origins and development of public history in Italy. Public history in the Peninsula has its roots in historical institutions born in the 19th century and in the post WW2 first Italian Republic. The concept of a “public use of history” (1993), the important role played by memory issues in post-war society, the birth of public archaeology (2015) before public history, and the emergence of history festivals in the new millennium are all important moments currently shaping the history of the field which are dealt with in this essay. The foundation of the “Italian Association of Public History” (AIPH) in 2016-2017, and the promotion of an Italian Public History Manifesto (2018) together with the creation of Public History masters at universities, are all concrete signs of a vital development of the field in the country.