Mothers and national identity in Carlo Collodi's schoolbooks

This article focuses on the pedagogical approach that Carlo Lorenzini, widely known as Collodi (1826–1890), kept towards the construct of the maternal figure in his schoolbooks, published between 1877 and 1890. In those years, the recently formed Italian State—declared in 1861 and completed in 1871 with the annexation of Rome—faced the necessity of providing for a heterogeneous community with a shared national identity. Within that process, the family was a staple, in which the madre (mother) played an undisputed role of authority. Hence, this analysis highlights the dysfunctional maternal figure emerging from examining maternal characters in Collodi's schoolbooks.