Building A Past

Marcello Cossu L'Abbate was born in Rome in 1934. Between 1942 and 1946 he drew his family life in Rome. When the 50th anniversary of the end of the war was celebrated, he published "L'Immagine e L'Immaginario" ("The Image and the Imagery"), a book that includes some of these drawings, his memories, comments and the circumstances accompanying them. Here we can conjecture the ways of apprehending the policies of silencing and extermination that were taking place within the sociopolitical framework of the time, and in the family climate of commitment to the suffering of citizens deported, shot and disappeared. "L'Immagine e L'Immaginario" is a valuable testimony to the life of Marcello and his contemporaries during World War II. It is a re-actualization of those experiences and a lively reflection about them, which gives rise to new forms of historical and personal understanding. It is a retrospective elaboration. It is not the mere story of an experience that is performed by an eyewitness. In the drawings and comments there is an interpretation of facts that brings us closer to the understanding of social phenomena.