The history of the formation of "soft power" resources in the foreign cultural policy of the Italian Republic

Avetisyan Alvina Aleksandrovna Postgraduate student, Department of Italian Language, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies, Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, p. 13 alvinaavetisyan@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

The Italian Republic today actively uses soft power in its foreign cultural policy, while the history of resource formation is quite rich and diverse. Currently, in cultural studies in the context of world politics, there is an expansion of the concept of culture and its components, there is a tendency to more often refer to such a term as national culture, which is already considered as a key element in shaping the image of a country abroad, contributing to the strengthening of its soft power, begins to play an important role in the foreign policy of the state. Foreign policy activities aimed at promoting and popularizing national culture may have several important aspects, among which are cultural diplomacy, popularization of language and literature, cultural exchanges and tourism development, as well as introducing the target audience to the dominants of national culture, which in turn may vary depending on the country that is engaged in creating her image. Depending on the goals set and the highlighted values of national culture that can be broadcast to the target audience, individual countries choose their own set of mechanisms for implementing the tasks set.

Speaking about the mechanisms used by various countries to implement the goals of foreign cultural policy, many researchers note such a tool as the use of "soft power", and within the framework of a conversation about the cultural sphere, and not, as it is commonly understood, in the economic or political fields ^[1]. During its development, the concept of "soft power" received a number of specific features and characteristics. The term "soft power" or "soft power" was first used by the American political scientist Joseph Nye in 1990 and gained its popularity already on the threshold of a new era – at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries ^[2]. It was he who introduced this concept, which at the very beginning was applicable to US politics, but is now used in a broader sense and in various fields such as world politics, economics and diplomacy. Initially, J. Nye analyzed the power of the state and divided it into two major components – "hard" and "soft" forces. If, within the framework of the concept of "hard power", the political scientist considers primarily the political, financial and economic power of the country, then he characterizes "soft power" with cultural and foreign policy components and political ideology ^{[3, 1990]}. An analysis of the thematic literature allowed us to conclude that, in fact, "soft power" should also be understood as "the ability to achieve what is desired on the basis of the voluntary participation of allies, and not through coercion or handouts" ^{[4, 2004, p. 45]}. A. O. Naumov, considering the components of the "soft power" policy, notes that "soft power can include the cultural attractiveness of the state, attractive features of its ideology, traditions, history, as well as specific achievements — from products of mass pop culture and victories on international sports grounds to scientific and technical breakthroughs" ^{[2, p.15]}. M. V. Braterky and A. S. Skriba, analyzing the policy of "soft power" as part of a foreign policy strategy in the context of US foreign policy and considering its difference from hard power, note that "hard power" is characterized by direct influence on the object, "soft power" is rather indirect. At the same time, "soft power" is focused on the gradual and long-term involvement of the object in its zone of influence; it is generated and projected for years and decades, but if successful, the dividends from its use are also more long-term in nature" ^{[5, p. 133]}.

When studying the "soft power" of the state, special attention is paid to the unique achievements of the state. In his works, Joseph Nye identified three main resources of "soft power": the country's culture, its political values and foreign policy ^{[6, 2011]}. Some researchers note a somewhat different set of components of "soft power", among which are innovation, culture, diplomacy, education and government ^[7]. For a long time, international ratings of the success of the use of the "soft power" mechanism by States have been created on the basis of these indicators. Further research made it possible to identify new components of the mechanism that expand the previous list. Among these indicators, the export of media products, the popularization of the national language, the presence of world-famous business companies, the presence of influential personalities included in international rankings, the world university ranking, the level of English proficiency as a condition for integration into the global environment and the level of the tourism sector are mentioned ^[8].

Above, the main characteristics of such a concept as "soft power" were considered and now, additionally taking into account the fact that in many sources devoted to the foreign cultural policy of the Italian state, special attention is focused on the mechanism of "soft power" and the new, Italian method of its application, it is possible to consider the history of the development of the instrument of "soft power" directly within the framework of Italy's foreign cultural policy.

Until the middle of the 20th century, Italy successfully offered foreign citizens everything that was created in the era of antiquity and the Renaissance, in more specific terms – sights, culture, centuries-old history, art, which received tremendous development during the XIV-XV centuries. For this purpose, immediately after the end of the First World War, in 1919, the National Italian Tourism Agency (ENIT) was founded. His main tasks included the development and promotion of culture and tourism in Italy and abroad after the war, the creation of tourist offices, as well as support in the development of the hotel business ^[1]. Already in the mid-60s of the XX century, during the period of economic recovery after the end of World War II, a new sector began to form in tourist Italy – beach tourism. In 1962, the Italian government decided to economically upgrade the Sardinia region and turn it into a beach holiday center for all visitors to the country ^[2]. A new type of tourism, which also allowed the country to attract additional income through the purchase of villas and estates by foreign citizens, also served as an impetus for the development of resort tourism in other regions of Italy, such as the Adriatic coast, the islands of Capri and Ischia ^[9].

The development of mass tourism in Italy continued in the seventies of the last century. It is important to note that this period in Italian historiography was marked as a time of sharp economic recovery and rapid development of the industry. A new phenomenon has also appeared in the Italian tourism sector – agrotourism, or as it is also commonly called, ecotourism. Agrotourism began its origin at a time when most of the Italian ancient cities, having not had time to get stronger after the end of World War II, continued to experience a crisis and were not fully ready to host the flows of new tourists ^[10]. Then the new attractive side of post–war Italy became resources independent of the state of the economy - the nature and climate of this country. Officially, agrotourism became a part of the economy of the Italian state thanks to the law "On the discipline of Agrotourism", issued in 1985. With this document, the state obliged the receiving party, that is, Italian farmers, to provide guests with everything necessary, and also set the following conditions: a farm that provided agrotourism services should not stop agricultural production^[3]. It is also important to note that the law regulated the fact that the state created special courses for the implementation of agrotouristic services, therefore, only those farms that successfully completed these courses had the right to accept tourists ^[11].  

         Thus, it can be concluded that the tourism sector in Italy, despite the fact that for a long time it was based mainly on providing tourists with cultural and historical heritage, also acquired new trends in the second half of the twentieth century. Using the example of the development of agrotourism, it can be seen that by the end of the 20th century, the tourist attractiveness of Italy consisted not only of the country's historical past as the main resource of "soft power", but also now concerned what the country possessed and currently possesses – nature, climate and agricultural production.

However, one of the very first directions of popularization of national culture was associated with the spread of the Italian language and originated at the end of the XIX century. This fact can be judged by the history of the opening of the Dante Alighieri Society in Italy. This center is the oldest organization, which, since 1889, has set as its goal the preservation and dissemination of the Italian language ^[12]. The decree of 1893 spelled out the functions of the center in more detail, for example, such as restoring the spiritual connection of Italians living outside Italy with their historical homeland and calling attention and penetration to Italian culture among foreigners ^[12]. The new functions allowed the establishment of Dante Alighieri centers abroad; for the first time such branches appeared in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Dante Alighieri Society became widespread through the formation of centers around the world. Due to the fact that this center was not state-owned at that time, branches around the world were created thanks to the financial support of the Italian elite ^[13]. For example, the first Russian center was opened in Moscow in 1908 on the initiative and with funding from Italian entrepreneurs living in Russia at that time.

Despite the fact that the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Society had cooperation within the framework of mutual interests ^[14], it was possible to link the activities of the Society with state bodies only in the second half of the 20th century, already in the post-war period. In 1985, an Interministerial Coordination Committee was established between the Dante Alighieri Society, the Ministry of Public Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since that period, the offices of Dante Alighieri have officially had the opportunity to receive public funds for development from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ^[13]. In 1993, the Society became authorized to conduct, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and the University of Rome La Sapienza, the PLIDA certification certifying knowledge of Italian as a foreign language ^[13]. This has facilitated the opening of new branches around the world. Thus, by the beginning of the XXI century, branches of the Dante Alighieri Society already existed on all continents, for example, in countries such as the USA, Argentina, Australia and South Africa.

Speaking about Italy's foreign cultural policy, it should be noted that a large share of responsibility for the activities of "soft power" in the field of forming a positive cultural image of the country, especially in the international arena, today also falls on Italian embassies around the world ^[15]. The idea of the Russian political scientist A. G. Sakharov is continued in his articles by E. V. Vasilenko, saying that embassies are, firstly, the official and direct representations of the Italian state abroad, and secondly, the main and often the largest organizers of various events. On the basis of Italian embassies in various countries abroad, the state has established Italian Cultural Institutions, which are often defined as the "cultural mouthpiece of Italian foreign policy" ^[16].

The decision to form the first Italian Cultural Institutions abroad appeared with the issuance of a Decree in 1926 indicating almost the same goal as in the formation of the Dante Alighieri Society – the dissemination of Italian culture and language abroad ^[17]. The law on Italian Cultural Institutions of December 19, 1926 prescribes that the purpose of their activities is also the development of intellectual relations with other countries, while noting that the implementation of these goals will take place not only through publications and dissemination of materials on the history, art and philosophy of Italy, but also through the organization of various courses, lectures and conferences . The first Italian Cultural Institutes to be founded abroad are the Italian Institute of Culture in Brussels, which appeared in 1932, and the second in Madrid, opened in 1939. In 1943, a cultural center was opened in Tokyo, but later, after the outbreak of World War II, for obvious reasons, the operation of Cultural Institutions was suspended; they continued their active activities in the fifties ^[17] after the end of hostilities.

In the middle of the XX century, the "Charter of the Italian Institute of Culture Abroad" was developed, which stated that this organization has the full right to carry out its activities and also represents the state ^[17]. In 1955, it was officially announced that the branches of this organization are under the control of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this period, the network of Institutes around the world continued to expand actively: branches appeared in South American countries (Colombia, Brazil) and the United Kingdom. Towards the end of the 20th century, a number of decrees prescribed the duties that the staff of these cultural institutions should have, and by which criteria and procedures the appropriate employees would be selected. At that time, Italian Cultural Institutions became widespread in North America (representative offices in Canada and the USA), as well as in Eastern European countries (Poland, Russia). Thus, the first Italian Institute of Culture in Russia was opened in Moscow in 1986 ^[17]. By 1990, when the organization's network was wide enough and there was a need to unify the standards of its activities, a special law was created and published regulating the work of Institutions around the world. According to Law No. 401 of 1990 of the Italian Republic, the state prescribed the already clearly formed main functions of the Italian Institute of Culture ^[18]:

• ·        Providing up-to-date information about the cultural life of Italy;
• ·        Organizing and conducting initiatives, cultural events and exhibitions;
• ·        Establishing contacts with various organizations and individuals engaged in cultural activities in order to involve them in projects aimed at promoting Italian culture;
• ·        Ensuring the relationship between Italian scientists and students to work on issues related to their research abroad;
• ·        Support for initiatives to work with Italians who currently do not live in Italy;
• ·        Organization of events aimed at popularization of the Italian language.

When analyzing many sources covering the topic of Italy's "soft power" in the context of foreign cultural policy, the following trend was also revealed, originating also in the 20th century: it is not enough for the country to only show itself on the one hand – cultural, it is also important to prove to the world that the state is now able to create something new. For quite a long period of time within the framework of the twentieth century, this new trend that captured the whole world was fashion. As soon as it comes to Italian fashion, political scientists mention such a brand created by Italians as "Made in Italy" in the topic of Italian "soft power" ^[19].

The development of this brand took place in the second half of the 20th century, when the country had a so-called economic boom that took place in the 60s and 70s. It took place in parallel with the development and growth of the economy and industry, when the Italian fashion industry also flourished. Later, this phenomenon also spread to the development of interior design and furniture production. Prior to this period, the French were considered the leading nation in this sector, but already at the end of the 20th century, Italian fashion and design were able to surpass their competitors both in terms of the number of fashion designers and designers working in this field, and in terms of the variety of offers. During this time period, favorable conditions were created for the development and dissemination of the "Made in Italy" brand and the export of various Italian goods to other countries ^[20].

It is worth noting that the history of the brand "Made in Italy" began even earlier, in Italian sources, for example, 1951 is considered the date of its foundation, when a closed fashion show was organized in Italy for representatives of American department stores in order to declare itself as a country capable of providing new ideas in the fashion world ^[21]. So, for the first time, Italian clothing brands entered the American market, which later, with the process of Americanization, also influenced the reasons for the spread of "Made in Italy" in the rest of the world ^[22].

In the 70s of the XX century, in order to promote Italy as an industrial country, Italian enterprises began to produce their products under the label "Made in Italy". The Italian economy, the main distinguishing feature of which was the principle of the predominance of small private enterprises producing national products, allowed Italy to be a country, along with the model of conveyor production of G. Ford, offering the world a new development scheme. Between 1971 and 1981, large companies began to be founded on the basis of small enterprises in the northern regions of the country. In the same years, Italian enterprises producing products intended for steel exports are divided into four categories, known in Italy as the "Four A": Abbigliamento (Clothing), Arredamento (Furniture products), Automobili (Cars) and Agroalimentare (Food) ^[20]. The brand also managed to strengthen its position in the last decades of the 20th century, and this was facilitated by the fact that most other European enterprises operating in the same sectors showed only a decline in their business activity during this period.

By the beginning of the XXI century, the "Made in Italy" brand was already an independently formed complex phenomenon, and there was an increase in counterfeit products both in Italy and abroad, which also had the "Made in Italy" label. This kind of phenomenon spoke about the prestige of the created brand: placing a label on clothes or shoes indicating that the products were made in Italy, or a similar postscript was a mark of higher product quality. This led to the regulation of the use of the brand mark, and the state undertook to control its activities. On the threshold of the new century, in 1999, the Institute for the Protection of Italian Products was established in Italy, which saw in its tasks the protection, evaluation and promotion of real original goods produced on the territory of the Italian state.

Thus, this article examines the main milestones in the development and peculiarities of the formation of Italy's foreign cultural policy on the example of mechanisms formed in the Italian tradition, analyzes the main characteristics of such a concept as "soft power" and how it manifests itself in the context of the Italian political course.  Speaking about the general development of the concept of "soft power", it can be concluded that the mechanism of "soft power" at the present stage of its manifestation is a rather multifaceted aspect, and during the process of its development it has received a number of features. "Soft power", as well as foreign cultural policy, sees culture in its broadest sense as one of its main tools, which, in turn, is based on the historical background of a particular nation, is based on the achievements of the past period of development of a certain society and is moving forward in parallel with the development of tourist attractiveness. Tourism and the national language are also singled out separately in the list of components of "soft power", which are elements that countries rely on in practice to create a positive image of the country in the international arena.

 When studying Italy's foreign cultural policy to spread knowledge about the country in the world, it was revealed that special attention was paid to the promotion of the Italian language, literature and art created on Italian territory. These elements were identified as key "soft power" resources that can be successfully used to strengthen the country's influence abroad and form the image of a culturally rich state. Italy's cultural diplomacy plays a significant role in achieving these goals, helping to create a positive perception of the country beyond its borders through the activities of official representatives: cultural institutions and various subordinate organizations acting to develop a full-fledged picture of the country. This goal allowed the country to develop brand development directions.  So, during the XX century, such a well-known megabrend as "Made in Itally" has developed, within the framework of which Italy is still promoting the material component of the national culture of Italy. There are also attempts to expand this brand and promote the so-called Italian way of life through material culture and manufactured goods, under which the spiritual values of Italian culture are also served. It can also be concluded that in the second half of the twentieth century, the Italian tourism industry acquired new directions of development, not limited only to cultural and historical heritage. The development of agrotourism has become one of the examples of changes showing that the attractiveness of Italy for tourists was not only based on history in the past, but also on nature, climate and agriculture.