The Narrative Machine of Italian Fiction: Memory, History, and Tacit Knowledge in “La meglio gioventù”, “L’amica geniale”, “1992” and “Esterno notte”

Since its inception, Italian television has functioned as a pivotal medium in the construction of collective narratives and the dissemination of culturally embedded knowledge, actively contributing to the shaping of national identity. This study underscores the critical importance of a historically grounded analysis of Italian television as a means to fully apprehend the narrative mechanisms that characterize contemporary serialized fiction. Viewed through this historical framework, television fiction emerges not merely as a vehicle of entertainment, but as a complex cultural apparatus engaged in the ongoing production of public discourse and shared meaning. The selected case studies — La meglio gioventù (Rai 1, 2003), L’amica geniale (Rai 1, 2018), 1992 (Sky, 2015), and Esterno notte (Rai 1, 2022) — exemplify the capacity of contemporary Italian fiction to narrativize historical events, socio-political tensions, and cultural transformations through accessible yet multilayered storytelling. These productions do not merely reflect Italian history but actively participate in the reconfiguration of its public memory, offering narrative frameworks through which audiences engage with the past and negotiate present identities. As such, fiction becomes a privileged site for the elaboration of a shared symbolic repertoire and the circulation of historically resonant imaginaries.

Sin dalle sue origini la televisione italiana ha rappresentato un medium fondamentale per la costruzione di narrazioni collettive e di un sapere diffuso, contribuendo alla formazione dell’identità culturale nazionale. Lo studio sottolinea l’importanza fondamentale di un’analisi storica della televisione italiana per comprendere appieno le dinamiche narrative che caratterizzano la fiction contemporanea. Attraverso questa lente storica, si evidenzia come la fiction non sia semplicemente un prodotto di intrattenimento, ma un dispositivo culturale complesso che contribuisce attivamente alla formazione del senso pubblico. La capacità delle fiction analizzate — da La meglio gioventù (Rai 1, 2003) a L’amica geniale (Rai 1, 2018) da 1992 (Sky, 2015) a Esterno notte (Rai 1, 2022) — di tradurre eventi storici, tensioni sociali e trasformazioni culturali in narrazioni coinvolgenti e accessibili dimostra il loro ruolo cruciale nella costruzione di una memoria collettiva condivisa.