The role and impact of the archivi della scrittura popolare

In the early twentieth century, archives for the collection and storage of non-professional writings, mostly life-histories by working-class authors, were established in Europe. I indicate their roles in different national contexts and the political and social ambitions of their founders. In Italy the collection by individual anthropologists, historians and political militants of autobiographical texts, oral and written, was expanded in the 1980s by the creation of a network of archivi della scrittura popolare, dedicated to gathering life-writings in their many forms. The most important was the Archivio Diaristico Nazionale at Pieve Santo Stefano, where Vincenzo Rabito's typescript is stored. I analyse the aims and achievements of its founder, Saverio Tutino, and the evolution of its influential place in Italy's cultural heritage.