Le visits home dei soldati italo-americani durante la Campagna d’Italia (1943-1945). Tra turismo di guerra, homecoming e diaspora tourism

Abstract

During the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of American soldiers of Italian origin were enrolled in the US Armed Forces. Among those who fought in the Italian Campaign (1943-1945), many used their leaves to visit the country and its natural and artistic sights, but foremost to travel to their places of origin. Their visits home, often lasting some days, established stable and continuous contacts in the post-war period as part of root tourism or war tourism. This essay analyzes the visits home of these Italian-American soldiers as a particular form of diaspora tourism, focusing on the way which homecoming engraved on their sense of identity and ethnic-cultural belonging