Oral History of Cultural Consumption in Italy, 1936-1954

UKDA study number:6479

Principal Investigators

Forgacs, D.
University of Cambridge. Department of Italian
Gundle, S.
University of Oxford. Department of Politics and International Relations

Sponsor

Economic and Social Research Council

Distributed by

UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.

June 2010

 

Bibliographic Citation

All works which use or refer to these materials should acknowledge these sources by means of bibliographic citation. To ensure that such source attributions are captured for bibliographic indexes, citations must appear in footnotes or in the reference section of publications. The bibliographic citation for this data collection is:
Forgacs, D. and Gundle, S., Oral History of Cultural Consumption in Italy, 1936-1954 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], June 2010. SN: 6479 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-6479-1

 

Acknowledgement

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Copyright:
D.Forgacs and S.Gundle

 

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6479 . Oral History of Cultural Consumption in Italy, 1936-1954

 

Depositor:

Forgacs, D. , University College London. Department of Italian

Principal Investigators:

Forgacs, D. , University of Cambridge. Department of Italian
Gundle, S. , University of Oxford. Department of Politics and International Relations

Sponsor:

Economic and Social Research Council
Grant Number: R000232795

Other Acknowledgements:

Dr Marcella Filippa, senior research assistant: co-ordinated the oral history interviews and conducted 39 of them.
Dr Paola Pallavicini, temporary research assistant: conducted 53 interviews.
Giuseppina Pertusio and Lidia Sinchetto: transcription of recordings.

Professor David Forgacs, Principal Investigator, was based at the University of Cambridge at the time of the research project, but later moved to University College London prior to deposit of the data collection at the UK Data Archive.

Abstract:

This is a qualitative data collection, comprising 120 oral history interviews conducted in various parts of Italy during 1991-1992 as part of the ESRC-funded project 'Cultural industries, governments and the public in Italy, 1938-1954'. The overall aims of the project were to examine relations between cultural production, consumption and political power in 1938-54, collect a substantial body of new information about mass culture and Italian society in those years and use oral history to elicit evidence about cultural consumption. Further information about the project, including links to related publications, may be found on the ESRC award page.

Users should note that the interview transcripts in this collection have been scanned from paper, so are available as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The original audio recordings have also been deposited at the UK Data Archive and will be digitised and added to the collection at a future date.

Publication
At present, there is no ESRC End of Award report available for this study, but the main findings are presented in:
Forgacs, D. and Gundle, S. (2008) Mass culture and Italian society from fascism to the Cold War, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN: 0253219485.

Main Topics:

The interviews cover many aspects of cultural consumption including cinema-going, reading, listening to radio and recorded music, sport, fashion, care of the body and use of branded products. The interview transcripts are in Italian, with no English translation.

Each interview began with an explanation of the project by the interviewer and then had three stages:

Coverage:

Time Period Covered: 1936 - 1954 Coverage of some interviews extends before 1936 and/or after 1954.
Dates of Fieldwork: May 1991 - May 1992
Country: Italy
Spatial Units: No spatial unit
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Textual data; Individual (micro) level; Semi-structured interview transcripts (oral history interviews).

Universe Sampled:

Location of Units of Observation: National
Population: Adults living in Italy during 1991-1992.

Methodology:

Time Dimensions: Cross-sectional (one-time) study
Sampling Procedures: The interviewees were grouped into three age bands by year of birth: 1990-1914; 1915-1929 (about half the interviewees); and 1930 and after; and by three sets of geographical divisions: North/Centre/South islands; large city/provincial town/village; and town centre/suburb (perifera).
Number of Units: 120 interviews
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview
Weighting: Not applicable

Language(s) of Written Materials:

Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English and Italian; interviews in Italian.

Access:

Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Qualidata, UK Data Archive
Recommendation : Users are recommended to obtain the following publication: Forgacs, D. and Gundle, S. (2008) Mass culture and Italian society from fascism to the Cold War, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN: 0253219485.
Contact: Help desk: qualidata@esds.ac.uk

Date of First Release:

16 June 2010

Copyright:

D.Forgacs and S.Gundle


File last updated:

23 April 2012