Why a Political Assassination Has Not Become a National Cultural Trauma: The Years of Lead in Italy and the Memory of Sergio Ramelli

Abstract

This study examines the contentious discourses surrounding Sergio Ramelli, a young right-wing militant killed in 1975, as a case study for understanding why a shared collective memory of Italy’s Years of Lead has failed to form. Drawing on Jeffrey C. Alexander’s work, the analysis focuses on the categories of memory and icon to show how ideological opposition and political violence created an image of the opponent as an enemy to be defeated. Methodologically, the essay centres on Ramelli’s death and investigates how its circumstances, as portrayed in documents and cultural products such as biographies and documentaries reveal three key dynamics of ideological conflict: (1) a tragic denial of shared humanity, which impeded any unified collective memory; (2) a paradoxical mimetic identification with the working-class struggle by the attackers, who framed themselves as urban avengers; and (3) the metaphorical framing of Ramelli as a fascist figure to be physically eliminated, justifying the violence against him. Although institutional and cultural efforts have accelerated the process of symbolizing Ramelli as a civic icon, his legacy remains politically divisive. Commemorations and symbolic practices are embedded within an ideological context where neo-fascism retains significant presence, while antifascist memory maintains a critical and conflicted stance.