La letteratura per l’infanzia e il Fascismo L’eroe controcorrente di Ada Gobetti nella Storia del gallo Sebastiano

This paper examines the central features of children’s literature during the twenty-year Fascist regime and explores the role of Ada Gobetti as an anti-fascist writer. Through her novel Storia del gallo Sebastiano (The Story of Sebastian the Rooster), Gobetti offers Italian readers a work that diverges from the conventional children’s books of the period. The study discusses the dominant themes favored by Italian authors of the time—such as war and the glorification of the Duce—and analyzes the strict ideological conformity imposed by the Fascist regime on younger generations, a trend reflected in literature for children. It then considers Gobetti’s position as an educator and writer in the 1930s and 1940s, highlighting the significance of her first work for children, Storia del gallo Sebastiano. The paper also investigates the novel’s origins, conceived as a response to Mussolini’s official visit to Turin during Gobetti’s family walks in the mountains. Two key concepts emerge from the analysis of the novel and Gobetti’s writings of this period: nonconformity and the family. The discussion emphasizes Gobetti’s belief in nurturing children’s creativity and reinforcing the family as essential values for shaping future generations. Finally, the paper examines the novel’s principal characters and themes—freedom, courage, and peace—which convey an implicit educational message to children and their families and serve as a subtle form of resistance to Fascist ideology.