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@ -470,15 +470,21 @@ Montaldi, Danilo. *![Autobiografie della leggera](bib:ba64ac2a-ae09-4e31-a1b2-72
--- ---
"I take off my earrings, they are frivolous": The *canzoni della mala milanese* between Authenticity and Romanticisation # Songs of the Mala
This article considers music as a precipitate of the universes of meaning attributed to deviance and crime in a certain period of history and in a specific social context. From this perspective, the *canzoni della mala*, sung by various artists from Milan in the 1950s-70s, are analyzed. These songs transfigured the violence and social unrest of the period of *ligera* (a specific kind of criminality in Milan), anticipating the birth of the *canzone d’autore*. Two rhetorics are highlighted in this process: the romanticization of crime and the importance of authenticity in the performances. Binik, Oriana. "!['Mi tolgo gli orecchini, sono frivoli'. Le canzoni della mala milanese tra autenticità e romanticismo](bib:8100c1f3-ade8-4c3c-af91-54961dc954d8)." *Studi culturali* 14.1 (2017): 47-72.
The songs *La povera Rosetta* and *Ma mì*, which represent two different typologies of authenticity (respectively a modernist and a constructivist version of the concept), are considered as case studies. The analysis shows that, even if there are different kinds of *canzoni della mala*, those romantic and "authentic" songs expressed the desire to resist the process of industrialization and aimed to introduce a new "taste" in music. This article delves into the powerful role of music in shaping how crime and deviance were understood and romanticized during a particular era in Milan's history. Focusing on the *canzoni della mala milanese*, or the "songs of the Milanese underworld," it explores how these songs, emerging between the 1950s and 1970s, transformed gritty realities of crime and rebellion into something more lyrical and symbolic.
--- At the heart of these songs is the portrayal of *ligera*, a type of small-scale criminality that was often tied to poverty. The article traces how these songs simultaneously presented crime as a form of resistance to the rapid industrialization that swept Italy post-WWII, while also steeping these criminal acts in a sense of authenticity and romance. In this way, these songs provided a soundtrack to a Milan that was both dangerous and alluring, deeply embedded in the city's evolving identity.
Binik, Oriana. "«Mi tolgo gli orecchini, sono frivoli». Le canzoni della mala milanese tra autenticità e romanticismo." Studi culturali 14, no. 1 (2017): 47-72. Two songs, *La Povera Rosetta *and *Ma mì*, serve as key examples in the analysis. *La Povera Rosetta* represents a modernist take on authenticity, grounding its narrative in a tragic tale of police brutality against a poor woman named Rosetta, who is caught up in the violence of the state. The song is raw, a reflection of the injustices that working-class communities faced. On the other hand, *Ma mì*, written by Giorgio Strehler, showcases a constructivist approach to authenticity, where the story of a jailed young man is less about factual accuracy and more about invoking a sense of collective memory and emotional truth.
These songs, while varied in style and approach, ultimately contributed to a larger cultural conversation about what it meant to be "authentic" in a rapidly changing Italy. They romanticized the figures of the underworld, turning them into tragic heroes and martyrs of a society that was being transformed by capitalism and modernity. Yet, this romanticization wasn’t without controversy. Intellectuals and criminologists of the time debated whether this portrayal of crime was an accurate reflection of the social struggles or merely a commodified version for mass consumption.
The article also touches on the artistic collaborations that brought these songs to life. Singers like Ornella Vanoni, known for her sultry, intellectual performances, helped popularize the genre, albeit with some critics accusing these productions of being overly stylized or detached from the gritty realities they were supposed to represent.
The *canzoni della mala* laid the groundwork for the later emergence of the Italian singer-songwriter movement (*canzone d’autore*). Through their evocative storytelling, these songs provided a space for both mourning and defiance, connecting the struggles of Milan’s urban poor with a broader, more romantic vision of rebellion and resistance.
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@ -1100,26 +1106,6 @@ Power, Emma R, Ilan Wiesel, Emma Mitchell, and Kathleen J Mee. “![Shadow Care
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# Songs of the Mala
Binik, Oriana. "!['Mi tolgo gli orecchini, sono frivoli'. Le canzoni della mala milanese tra autenticità e romanticismo](bib:8100c1f3-ade8-4c3c-af91-54961dc954d8)." *Studi culturali* 14.1 (2017): 47-72.
This article delves into the powerful role of music in shaping how crime and deviance were understood and romanticized during a particular era in Milan's history. Focusing on the *canzoni della mala milanese*, or the "songs of the Milanese underworld," it explores how these songs, emerging between the 1950s and 1970s, transformed gritty realities of crime and rebellion into something more lyrical and symbolic.
At the heart of these songs is the portrayal of *ligera*, a type of small-scale criminality that was often tied to poverty. The article traces how these songs simultaneously presented crime as a form of resistance to the rapid industrialization that swept Italy post-WWII, while also steeping these criminal acts in a sense of authenticity and romance. In this way, these songs provided a soundtrack to a Milan that was both dangerous and alluring, deeply embedded in the city's evolving identity.
Two songs, *La Povera Rosetta *and *Ma mì*, serve as key examples in the analysis. *La Povera Rosetta* represents a modernist take on authenticity, grounding its narrative in a tragic tale of police brutality against a poor woman named Rosetta, who is caught up in the violence of the state. The song is raw, a reflection of the injustices that working-class communities faced. On the other hand, *Ma mì*, written by Giorgio Strehler, showcases a constructivist approach to authenticity, where the story of a jailed young man is less about factual accuracy and more about invoking a sense of collective memory and emotional truth.
These songs, while varied in style and approach, ultimately contributed to a larger cultural conversation about what it meant to be "authentic" in a rapidly changing Italy. They romanticized the figures of the underworld, turning them into tragic heroes and martyrs of a society that was being transformed by capitalism and modernity. Yet, this romanticization wasn’t without controversy. Intellectuals and criminologists of the time debated whether this portrayal of crime was an accurate reflection of the social struggles or merely a commodified version for mass consumption.
The article also touches on the artistic collaborations that brought these songs to life. Singers like Ornella Vanoni, known for her sultry, intellectual performances, helped popularize the genre, albeit with some critics accusing these productions of being overly stylized or detached from the gritty realities they were supposed to represent.
The *canzoni della mala* laid the groundwork for the later emergence of the Italian singer-songwriter movement (*canzone d’autore*). Through their evocative storytelling, these songs provided a space for both mourning and defiance, connecting the struggles of Milan’s urban poor with a broader, more romantic vision of rebellion and resistance.
<a href="#">⮝ Back to top ⮝</a>
---
# Staying with the Breakdown # Staying with the Breakdown
In her 2021 article ‘Beyond repair: Staying with breakdown at the interstices’, urban ethnographer Tatiana Thieme develops the notion of *staying with breakdown*. Engaging with Donna Haraway’s invitation to ‘stay with the trouble’ she starts from the observation that breakdown is the widespread condition through which life is lived and thought through for most dwellers in global north and south cities. “When mainstream systems do not work for the urban majority,” – she writes – “the alternative logics that emerge inhabit liminal spaces, and assume particular dispositions that are neither just troublesome nor hopeful, but rather a fragile oscillation between the two. This liminal zone simultaneously rejects prescriptive aspirational futures and pessimistic outlooks”. It is anchored, instead, in a precarious state that is both beyond repair and yet filled with the labour of making the uninhabitable inhabitable across as diverse settings as Zaria, Nairobi, Paris, or Berlin. In her 2021 article ‘Beyond repair: Staying with breakdown at the interstices’, urban ethnographer Tatiana Thieme develops the notion of *staying with breakdown*. Engaging with Donna Haraway’s invitation to ‘stay with the trouble’ she starts from the observation that breakdown is the widespread condition through which life is lived and thought through for most dwellers in global north and south cities. “When mainstream systems do not work for the urban majority,” – she writes – “the alternative logics that emerge inhabit liminal spaces, and assume particular dispositions that are neither just troublesome nor hopeful, but rather a fragile oscillation between the two. This liminal zone simultaneously rejects prescriptive aspirational futures and pessimistic outlooks”. It is anchored, instead, in a precarious state that is both beyond repair and yet filled with the labour of making the uninhabitable inhabitable across as diverse settings as Zaria, Nairobi, Paris, or Berlin.