Il borgo dei borghi

Autenticità, consumo e mediatizzazione dell’esperienza nei borghi italiani

Abstract

The debate surrounding the hamlets of Italy's inner areas experienced an unexpected surge during the Covid-19 pandemic, partly driven by the desire to escape densely populated and congested urban centers. This contribution focuses on the media imaginary of Italian villages, aiming to identify its distinctive features in relation to the social and cultural phenomena catalyzed by the pandemic. While contemporary research on hamlets and Italian inner areas often focuses on the territorial impact of institutional tourism policies, the media imaginary underpinning these policies remains an underexplored field. These institutional initiatives are intrinsically tied to classification criteria for the authenticity of hamlets. This study examines specific media products that convey this conception of authenticity, treating them as narrative dispositifs that contribute to constructing the value of the experiences offered by Italian villages. It highlights several value systems that describe authenticity and provide guidelines for its recognition, thereby legitimizing the worth of certain experiences. Changes observed in the analyzed media artifacts regarding authentication processes, both pre- and post-pandemic, allow the conclusions to reflect on the dominant orientations of contemporary tourism practices. The prevailing model of short trips to villages not only promotes visits to historical, cultural, and natural heritage but also reflects a recent trend of narrating encounters with locals through comedic and ironic lenses, showcasing the opportunities for a good quality of daily life offered by Italian villages.