Negotiating the Past

Abstract

If reconstructing the past has been demonstrated to be an effective means of consolidating a sense of belonging to history-based groups, such as families and nations, then selective memory can be also a helpful tool in making, un-making, and remaking identities. This article examines the multifaceted, crucial role played by autobiographies and family histories in identities’ construction and deconstruction by focusing on the stories of about 100 foreigners settled in Restoration Naples. The negotiations over citizenship between these migrants and the Neapolitan government are investigated in order to demonstrate the inextricable relationships between family ties, family histories, nationhood, and citizenship in 19^th-century Europe and to ascertain to what extent narrating the past helped people to manipulate their personal and national identities, despite the innovative technical and conceptual means introduced to identify individuals and distinguish citizens from foreigners throughout the revolutionary period.