Castiglione Memories: A Nostalgic Journey in “Me, vo en Colonia!”
An original Christmas gift for the people of Castiglione delle Stiviere, available in bookstores in the town of Alto Mantovano just a few days ago. It was written by Alessandra Rutigliano and Giorgio Alemanni, son of the late Vittorio, former mayor, respected administrator, and journalist, who for many years was a point of reference for our daily newspaper in the Castiglione area, and who passed away five years ago. The book by Giorgio Alemanni and his wife Sandra — the couple has been living in Milan for some time — is imbued with nostalgia: memories of summer camps — which forms the basis for the title “Me, vo en Colonia!” — blend with recollections of a youth that experienced intensely crucial years of our recent history, those of the post-World War II period and the economic boom, the transition from rural culture to factory life.
Historical Context and the Transformation of Castiglione
A transformation that saw Castiglione take the lead in a development that transformed it in just a few decades into one of those “small provincial capitals” that contributed to the prosperity of Lombardy. Some excerpts published in the magazine “La costa della balena” marked the starting point of Alemanni’s work, which later expanded its scope to include friends of the time: “I tried to remember what they no longer had ‘in memory’ by assembling it with what they did remember,” he writes in the introductory note.
Method and Inspiration
A backward journey, searching for a lost time that, like a miracle, materializes on paper. Not a voyage to Eden, mind you, but a dive into the past that left its mark on a generation of Castiglionesi who, now in their fifties, can rediscover and recognize themselves in the pages of this slim volume.
Contents and Personal Memories
Characters, adventures, dialectal terms, and places from youth flow easily, offering a refreshing read that makes the reader eager to reach the end to see how it all turns out. Alemanni’s stories evoke memories of Jesolo, Temù, and Breguzzo, of the “Signorine delle Colonie,” to whom the book is in some way dedicated.
Nostalgic Value and Reflection on the Present
A revitalizing bath of nostalgia to prevent forgetting the past and to assign new meanings to a present that seems light-years away from those joyful and carefree days.