La questione del dialetto in Giuseppe Lombardo Radice

Since Unification in 1861, the linguistic issue has been in Italy a topic of fundamental importance in the schooling-nationalization process. For a long time refused in school and considered as a "bad" and "dirty" language, it is only since the first decades of the twentieth century that dialect acquires a new dimension in the classroom. Among the main supporters of this new development is Giuseppe Lombardo Radice, author, in particular, of the programmes for elementary school of 1923. The essay reconstructs his thought on the matter and the new elements he introduced in the didactic field. Keywords. Giuseppe Lombardo Radice, dialect, history of school in Italy, 1923 Gentile Reform, pedagogical activism.