{"id":13316,"date":"2022-03-21T10:49:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T09:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/?p=13316"},"modified":"2022-03-21T10:49:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T09:49:24","slug":"el-tren-de-los-ninos-la-historia-olvidada-de-la-posguerra-italiana-the-forgotten-story-of-the-italian-postwar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/el-tren-de-los-ninos-la-historia-olvidada-de-la-posguerra-italiana-the-forgotten-story-of-the-italian-postwar\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018El tren de los ni\u00f1os\u2019: La historia olvidada de la posguerra italiana | The forgotten story of the Italian postwar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Imagen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEl tren de los ni\u00f1os\u201d fue una de las sensaciones editoriales m\u00e1s inesperadas del a\u00f1o 2019 en el panomara editorial italiano. Se trata de un conmovedor relato en torno al traslado al norte de Italia de miles de ni\u00f1os debido a la pobreza y la miseria que marc\u00f3 la vida en ciudades como N\u00e1poles tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Aunque la historia de la posguerra alemana es bien conocida, esta novela arroja luz sobre la situaci\u00f3n vivida por la generaci\u00f3n de ni\u00f1os de la posguerra italiana y el dilema al que se enfrentaron sus padres: mantenerles en sus barrios empobrecidos o enviarles a otra parte del pa\u00eds para ofrecerles una mejor oportunidad. La novela de Viola Ardone abre una ventana hacia una \u00e9poca oscura del pasado italiano a trav\u00e9s de la historia de la separaci\u00f3n forzosa de un ni\u00f1o (Amerigo Speranza), de su familiay de su incapacidad para entender esta situaci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

En cuanto al contexto hist\u00f3rico, Ardone logra construir una imagen s\u00f3lida de la desesperaci\u00f3n que viv\u00eda diariamente la gente del sur de Italia. La trama de la novela nos permite comprender la mentalidad de estos padres, que asum\u00edan la imposibilidad de escapar de su estado de pobreza y la \u00fanica opci\u00f3n de enviar a sus hijos al norte para poder garantizarles un mejor futuro. Las reflexiones del propio Amerigo y de los adultos en cuanto a la amenaza del hambre, nos permiten  entender mejor la brecha  entre el norte y el sur de Italia y  las medidas a las que recurr\u00edan para evitar caer en la extrema pobreza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adem\u00e1s del an\u00e1lisis de las condiciones de vida, la novela nos relata la solidaridad y el compromiso de la clase baja para vencer los desaf\u00edos a los que ten\u00edan que hacer frente. A trav\u00e9s de la mirada del protagonista, la autora refleja la verdadera solidaridad entre los vecinos de N\u00e1poles durante esos tiempos dif\u00edciles, as\u00ed como los esfuerzos conjuntos de las madres para tratar de liberar a sus hijos de la desolaci\u00f3n de la posguerra. Al principio de la novela se nos presenta la figura de Maddalena Criscuolo y su iniciativa para crear un mejor futuro  tras la derrota de los fascistas al t\u00e9rmino de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En este cap\u00edtulo, se nos ofrece una perspectiva sobre la construcci\u00f3n de una red de solidaridad y los esfuerzos colectivos para ayudarse entre s\u00ed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tal y como han destacado muchos cr\u00edticos, el aspecto m\u00e1s relevante de esta novela es la perspectiva que nos brinda nuestro protagonista joven, Amerigo, y sus observaciones y sentimientos sobre la realidad que le rodea.  Gracias a la situaci\u00f3n vulnerable en la que se encuentra y a sus esfuerzos por entender porqu\u00e9 se ve forzado a abandonar su casa, esta novela ofrece un testimonio de la experiencia vivida por estos ni\u00f1os y sus familias (tanto de acogida como naturales). La mirada inocente de Amerigo y su lucha por comprender la realidad arroja luz sobre los efectos sociales y emocionales provocados por las condiciones de pobreza generadas en esta \u00e9poca de posguerra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texto de Philip McGuinnes<\/em>s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u2018El tren de los ni\u00f1os\u2019 was one of the most unexpected editorial success stories of 2019 owing to its moving representation of the migration of thousands of Italian children on the part of the Italian Communist Party from the south to the north of Italy arising from the poverty and destitution that characterised life in cities like Naples after the end of the Second World War. Whilst the story of Post-War Germany is well-known, this novel offers an important perspective on the lived experience of a generation of young Italians and the dilemma faced by their parents between keeping them in their impoverished communities or sending them to far-flung parts of the country in an effort to secure them a better future. In this sense, Ardone\u2019s novel opens a window to a dark chapter of Italy\u2019s past through the story of a child\u2019s separation from his family and his inability to understand why he finds himself in such a horrendous situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regards to the historical context, Ardone constructs a powerful image of the daily desperation endured by Italy\u2019s underclass during this period. In the case of this novel, our attention is focused on the attitudes of the parents, mostly mothers, and their conviction that they are condemned to a life of poverty and that there is no other solution available to them then to send their children away to guarantee them a better future. As the protagonist\u2019s observations on the adults\u2019 reflections on the threat of hunger, we come to understand the reality of the traditional gap in living standards between the north and south and the measures to which Italy\u2019s poorer classes resorted to avoid extreme poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as  drawing our attention to the poverty and misery that characterised life in the South during this period, we also learn of the solidarity of the working classes and their shared commitment to overcoming the common challenges that they faced. Through the perspective of the young protagonist, Amerigo, Ardone reflects the flourishing of solidarity amongst the residents of Naples and more specifically, the joint efforts of the mothers and their shared willingness to free their children from the poverty to which they had been subjected in post-war Italy. At the start of the novel, we learn about the case of Maddalena Criscuolo and her hope for a better future for Italy\u2019s children after having struggled to overcome the threat of Fascism during the second world war. In this particular chapter, the author offers us an insight into the formation of a network of mothers focused on helping one another as they struggled with the decision as to what to do to best protect their children during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many critics have outlined, the most interesting element of this novel from a historical perspective is the point of view of the young protagonist, Amerigo, and his observations on the world around him as well as his feeling through his entire experience having found out about his mother\u2019s decision to send him away to live with a new family. As a result of Amerigo\u2019s vulnerable situation and his difficulties in understanding why he has been forced to leave his home, this novel provides a significant image of the true experience of the poorer classes through its insights into the perspectives of different members of the community on their lived realities. In this sense, the intuitive perspective of the young child allows us to understand the social and emotional effects of war and in this case, highlights the different challenges faced by the Italian people about which we have traditionally known so little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text by Philip McGuinnes<\/em>s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEl tren de los ni\u00f1os\u201d fue una de las sensaciones editoriales m\u00e1s inesperadas del a\u00f1o 2019 en el panomara editorial italiano. Se trata de un conmovedor relato en torno al traslado al norte de Italia de miles de ni\u00f1os debido a la pobreza y la miseria que marc\u00f3 la vida en ciudades como N\u00e1poles tras […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1444],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13322,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13316\/revisions\/13322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cervantes.es\/dublin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}