Chapter 3
Laws and official Texts as Historical Sources
Introduction
The Chapter, developed by University of Macerata (IT), analyses in depth normative documents concerning the world of Italian school, and in particular the legislation inherent in the choice and adoption of textbooks in Italy from the unification (1861), through the early fascist twenty-years period (1928), up to the end of the Second World War (1945).
The chapter addresses the following themes :
- Description of general features of the law-texts as historical sources: definition, hierarchy and typologies of laws, and general aspects of laws as shaped by the values of each particular social-cultural environment;
- Description and analysis of specific features of the law-texts regarding the school-system, and their role as source for the historical-educational field;
- Example of use of this particular historical source (the law-texts for the school), with regard to a specific historical-educational topic: the case of the work of the Commission for the revision of textbooks in Italy during the fascist regime (1923-1928). The exemplification will be carried on by making use of the full-text of the Circulars and other official texts which have been digitised inside the national database prepared by the Macerata unit-partner (ITL-Italian textbooks legislation);
- Practical examples of documents are analysed and described in order to make history-students gain competency in correctly analysing, describing, citing and quoting this kind of source inside a written historical research;
- Detailed instructions are given in order to make history-students able to search and find this particular kind of sources, both in historical archives, paper indexes, specific data-bases, and finally in the immaterial and digital world of the web (on line repertories, collections and data-bases).
You can either browse on-line the Contents of the Chapter through the interactive index here below, or click here to start the Chapter from the beginning or download the .pdf version of the Chapter contents (English version - Italian version)
Index of contents
