par Huysseune, Michel 
Référence Nations and nationalism, 16, 2, page (354-373)
Publication Publié, 2010-04
Référence Nations and nationalism, 16, 2, page (354-373)
Publication Publié, 2010-04
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | While the dominant discourse of the Lega Nord, the party that proposes the independence of ‘Padania’, i.e. northern Italy, emphasizes the region’s economic success, contributions in party literature on the Padanian landscape focus on the Alps. The Alps symbolize both the rootedness of the nation in tradition and ethnic identity and the intrinsic link between these traditions and modernity. They embody self-government of mountain communities and local traditions of political autonomy, but also appear as a protectice bullwark against invasions of the Padanian lowlands. The focus on the Alps, an economically peripheral territory, is symptomatic of the reluctance to represent the environmental degradation caused by development in the lowlands. Contributions on the Alps, however, also reveal the tension between modernisation and preservation of culture and territory and the need for new development models. Discussions on the Alps thus reveal the contradictions in the party’s construction of a national identity based on modernity rooted in tradition. |
