IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v13y2023i5p130-d1149815.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Oral History as a Source for the Interpretation of UBH: The World War II Shelters in Naples Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Roberta Varriale

    (Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean (ISMed), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 80134 Napoli, Italy)

Abstract

What can be the contribution of oral history to the interpretation of tangible cultural assets? Starting from this conceptual question, this article focuses on the case study of the experiences Second World War in Naples bomb shelters, recently included within the Underground Built Heritage (UBH) class. The hypothesis of the research is that bomb shelters are very significant elements in the subsoil of Naples but that, due to the lack of distinctive elements and dedicated storytelling, they are only partially exploited in the context of urban parks or generic itineraries Naples’s subsoil. The thesis of the research is that the memories of those children that took refuge there during World War II (WWII), which were collected with the adoption of the oral history methodology, can integrate their value as elements of local cultural heritage and eventually support their interpretation for the benefit of the new generations. The methodology adopted was the collection, via structured and unstructured interviews, of the direct testimonies of those who took refuge in Naples’ underground during the alarms. Twenty-three interviews were carried out, and all the issues introduced have been classified according to the various themes addressed during the narration in order to allow the reconstruction of dedicated storytelling in the future. The research was carried out immediately after the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, an event that claimed many victims belonging to the generation of our witnesses, whose memories were at risk of being lost forever.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberta Varriale, 2023. "Oral History as a Source for the Interpretation of UBH: The World War II Shelters in Naples Case Study," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-28, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:5:p:130-:d:1149815
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/5/130/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/5/130/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marek Nowacki, 2021. "Heritage Interpretation and Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-16, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mingming Su & Menghan Wang & Yehong Sun & Ying Wang, 2022. "Tourist Perspectives on Agricultural Heritage Interpretation—A Case Study of the Qingtian Rice-Fish System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Olga Lo Presti & Maria Rosaria Carli, 2023. "Promoting Underground Cultural Heritage through Sustainable Practices: A Design Thinking and Audience Development Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-9, June.
    3. Xiangting He & Tongguang Zang & Bingyu Sun & Konomi Ikebe, 2023. "Tourists’ Motives for Visiting Historic Conservation Areas in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Case Study of Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:5:p:130-:d:1149815. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.