The Armenian Genocide in the Italian Protestant Press (1915-1918): The Distinctive Viewpoint of a Minority

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 hap...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni
Main Author: Annese, Andrea (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:Italian
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Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Morcelliana 2017
In: Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni
Further subjects:B Armenian genocide, 1915-1923
B protestantesimo italiano
B minoranze
B Protestants
B Italian press
B auto-rappresentazione
B stampa periodica italiana
B Self-representation
B Armenian Genocide
B Genodicio armeno
B Minorities
B Twentieth Century
B Mass Media
B Italian Protestantism
B Italy
B Massacres
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary: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). (English)
ISSN:2611-8742
Contains:Enthalten in: Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni