"Freedom is not something you possess once and for all. It is a daily exercise, an uninterrupted vigilance." Joyce Lussu wrote this in "Fronti e Frontiere," the first edition of which was published in 1945. It depicts Joyce's horizon, his life in a tumultuous historical moment, rife with totalitarianism that devastated freedoms and led to horrendous crimes. There is the description of the occupation of Paris in 1940, with the reference to the "goose step" to evoke the march of Nazi soldiers. A dehumanizing military might: "Robust males trained to goose step, with the clang of their caterpillar tracks [...] ready to kill, to hand the defenseless over to the torturers."
Alessia Farci chose the poet and freedom fighter for her thesis, which has now been published as a book by Il Maestrale: "Literary Resistances, Joyce Lussu between Fronts and Borders." Alessia Farci, 26, born in Decimomannu, graduated in Cultural Heritage and Entertainment and in Classical and Modern Philology and Literature. She collaborated with the Enrico Berlinguer Foundation, sharing an essay on the PCI leader with other scholars.
Human and political journey
"When you discover Joyce's story, whose life is closely linked to that of Emilio Lussu through similarities of sentiment and ideas, it's impossible not to be fascinated. His human and political journey still represents an example of civic engagement, freedom, activism, and democratic participation," says the researcher, who first encountered the "Sibilla" narrated by Silvia Ballestra through the play "An Irresistible Mirage of the World," written by Paola Soriga. "From that moment," she explains, "I decided to completely change the topic of my thesis to delve deeper into the life and work of a woman who is so relevant today for her far-sighted thoughts and the values she always defended." "Literary Resistances. Joyce Lussu between Fronts and Borders" is the fruit of over a year of research.
Unpublished documents
The author has woven the narrative of the publishing history of "Fronti e Frontiere" by consulting numerous documents held in the archives of the Laterza publishing house and the Ferruccio Parri National Institute. Joyce did not personally keep many of his papers. Thus, the scholar has reconstructed the work's journey through correspondence held by other key figures in Italian political and cultural history. "These sources," explains Alessia Farci, "have allowed us to better understand the evolution of the work, published in several editions between 1945 and 1992, and the role the book played in the narrative of the Resistance and an Italian memory that cannot be forgotten."
The role of women
"Fronti e Frontiere" is a book worth discovering or rediscovering for many reasons, but above all for Joyce's gaze on the women who shared her ideals of freedom and justice. "Some may wonder," she writes in the introduction, "why the chapter titles are of women who are not central figures in the narrative. […] There is so little mention of women in Italian literature, of women in the full human sense, and not just in the amorous and sentimental sense! But the narrative thread has subsequently betrayed this initial intent. I, too, leave these names, dear to me, at the top of each chapter, not as a title, but as a dedication."