Lo sport nell’Enciclopedia italiana

Abstract

The space reserved to sport in the Enciclopedia Italiana was quite scarce. During the Fascist Ventennio, sport began to be considered a subject worthy of attention by intellectuals, but this process was only at the beginning. Nevertheless, several entries of the Enciclopedia focus on sporting topics and many political entries mention the measures taken by the regime for sport. Analysing these entries helps us to understand the narrative of the sporting policy proposed by the intellectuals close to the regime, also hinting at the divergences among them. Furthermore, as the publication of the Enciclopedia lasted several years (from 1929 to 1937, with an appendix in 1938), sporting entries show the evolution and the changes of the sports policy and of the attitude of intellectuals and experts. Several entries also tell the story of the sports disciplines, allowing us to go back to the origins of the history of sport. Finally, the analysis of the sporting entries can give a contribution to the studies on the in- fluence of the regime on the Enciclopedia Italiana.
The paper takes in the account only the volumes of the Enciclopedia published during the fascist Ventennio (main edition and Appendix I).