Contagious fears. The invasion scare in liberal Italy (1872–1901)

This article explores the trajectory of invasion literature in post-unification Italy from 1872 to 1901, focusing on how imagined foreign threats were articulated across military discourse and popular fiction. Emerging in the aftermath of national unification and inspired by British models, the genre was soon reshaped to reflect uniquely Italian concerns. It served as a vehicle to critique parliamentary inefficiency, promote naval modernization, and legitimize appeals for stronger executive authority. Drawing on a wide range of sources–from parliamentary records to feuilletons and serialized novels–the study examines how invasion narratives became instruments of political propaganda. Particular attention is paid to their circulation and reception in the press, where they sparked intense public debate in both newspapers and periodicals. Over time, the genre expanded to encompass internal threats such as social unrest and revolution, mirroring anxieties about national cohesion and the limits of liberal governance. In doing so, these texts reveal the plasticity of invasion literature as a tool for shaping mass political imagination. By situating the Italian case within a broader transnational context, this article contributes to a comparative understanding of how fiction engaged with security, sovereignty, and state legitimacy at the turn of the century.