Notabilia: Maggie contro tutti, tutti contro Maggie. La Thatcher e la Gran Bretagna negli anni Ottanta
testo di Jacopo Bassi, traduzioni di Gianluca Canè
voci di Jacopo Bassi e Gianluca Canè
timeline ideata e realizzata da Serena BELTRAME nell’ambito dell’insegnamento Storia digitale tenuto da Deborah Paci presso Ca’ Foscari Università Venezia
Ascolta la registrazione di questa puntata, andata in onda su Radio Ca’ Foscari il 2 giugno 2016.
Dub Syndicate featuring Dr Pablo, No Alternative (but to fight), in Pay it all back vol. 2, 1988
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The Police, Invisible Sun, in Ghost in the Machine, 1981
testo di Sting
Do unto others as they have done unto you One, two, three, four, five, six Oh oh oh oh oh ohI don’t want to spend the rest of my life Looking at the barrel of an Armalite I don’t want to spend the rest of my days Keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say I don’t want to spend my time in hell Looking at the walls of a prison cell I don’t ever want to play the part Of a statistic on a government chart There has to be an invisible sun It gives its heat to everyone There has to be an invisible sun That gives us hope when the whole day’s done It’s dark all day and it glows all night Factory smoke and acetylene light I face the day with me head caved in Looking like something that the cat brought in There has to be an invisible sun It gives its heat to everyone There has to be an invisible sun That gives us hope when the whole day’s done |
![]() And they’re only going to change this place By killing everybody in the human race They would kill me for a cigarette But I don’t even wanna die just yet There has to be an invisible sun It gives its heat to everyone There has to be an invisible sun That gives us hope when the whole day’s done Oh oh oh oh oh oh |
Elvis Costello, Shipbuilding, in Punch the Clock, 1983
testo di Elvis Costello, Clive Langer
Is it worth it A new winter coat and shoes for the wife And a bicycle on the boy’s birthday It’s just a rumour that was spread around town By the women and children Soon we’ll be shipbuildingWell I ask you The boy said ’dad they’re going to take me to task but i’ll be back by Christmas’It’s just a rumour that was spread around town Somebody said that someone got filled in For saying that people get killed in The result of this shipbuildingWith all the will in the world Diving for dear life When we could be diving for pearlsIt’s just a rumour that was spread around town A telegram or a picture postcard Within weeks they’ll be re-opening the shipyards And notifying the next of kin |
Once again It’s all we’re skilled in We will be shipbuilding with all the will in the world diving for dear life when we could be diving for pearls |
Pink Floyd, Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, in The Final Cut, 1983
testo di Roger Waters
“Oi, get your filthy hands off my desert!” “What ’e say?” Brezhnev took Afghanistan. Begin took Beirut. Galtieri took the Union Jack. And Maggie, over lunch one day, Took a cruiser with all hands. Apparently, to make him give it back |
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Billy Bragg, Between the Wars, in Between the Wars, 1985
testo di Billy Bragg
I was a miner I was a docker I was a railway man Between the wars I raised a family In times of austerity With sweat at the foundry Between the warsI paid the union and as times got harder I looked to the government to help the working man And they brought prosperity down at the armory We’re arming for peace, me boys Between the warsI kept the faith and I kept voting Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand For theirs is a land with a wall around it And mine is a faith in my fellow man Theirs is a land of hope and glory Mine is the green field and the factory floor Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers And mine is the peace we know |
![]() Between the wars Call up the craftsmen Bring me the draftsmen Build me a path from cradle to grave And I’ll give my consent To any government That does not deny a man a living wage |
Bronsky Beat, Why?, in The age of Consent, 1984
testo di Steve Bronski, Jimmy Somerville, Larry Steinbachek
Contempt in your eyes As I turn to kiss his lips Broken I lie All my feelings denied Blood on your fist Can you tell me why? You in your false securities Tear up my life Condemning me Name me an illness Call me a sin Never feel guilty Never give in Tell me why? You and me together |
![]() Fighting for our love Can you tell me why |
Morrissey, Margaret on the Guillotine, in Viva Hate, 1988
testo di Steven Patrick Morrissey
The kind people Have a wonderful dream Margaret on the guillotine Cause people like you Make me feel so tired When will you die? When will you die? When will you die? When will you die? When will you die? And people like you Make me feel so old inside Please die And kind people Do not shelter this dream Make it real Make the dream real |
![]() Make the dream real Make it real Make the dream real Make it real |
Bibliografia
- BENN, Tony, The end of an era: diaries, 1980-90, London, Arrow, 1994.
- CAMPBELL, Brian, McKEOWN, Laurence, O’HAGAN, Felim, Nor meekly serve my time: the H-block struggle, 1976-1981, Belfast, Beyond the Pale, 1994.
- CLARKE, Peter, Speranza e gloria: l’Inghilterra nel XX secolo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2000.
- GUTHRIE, Hutton, Coal not dole: memories of the 1984/85 miner’s strike, Catrine, Stenlake Publishing, 2005.
- HENNESSEY, Thomas, The Northern Ireland peace process: ending the troubles?, Dublin, Gill & Macmillan, 2000.
- KAUFMANN, Eric P., The Orange Order: a contemporary Northen Irish history,Oxford-New York, Oxford University Press, 2007.
- MARTINI, Emanuela (a cura di), British Renaissance: gioventù, amore e rabbia nel cinema inglese degli anni Ottanta, Torino-Milano, Torino Film Festival-Il Castoro, 2008.
- RUSHDIE, Salman, Patrie immaginarie, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1994.
- SALA, Roberto, Il conflitto delle Falkland/Malvinas: un’analisi sistemica, Milano, F. Angeli, 1996.
- THATCHER, Margaret, Gli anni di Downing Street, Milano, Sperling & Kupfer, 1993.
Sitografia
- Margaret Thatcher Foundation, URL: < http://www.margaretthatcher.org/ > ;
- Il testo della Section 28, URL: < http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/9/section/28 > ;
- Bobby Sands Trust, URL : < http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/ > .
Timeline: la carriera di Margaret Thatcher
a cura di Serena Beltrame
Video
The 1981 Hunger StrikesUn documentario sugli hunger strikers realizzato dalla rete irlandese RTÉ One. |
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Margaret Thatcher on Nationwide questioned over the BelgranoLo scontro televisivo tra Diana Gould e Margaret Thatcher. |
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The Battle for OrgreaveIl documentario The battle for Orgreave di Yvette Vanson. |
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Orgreave – 29th May 1984Le immagini della “battaglia di Orgreave” del 29 maggio 1984, uno degli scontri più cruenti tra minatori e polizia. |
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Margaret Thatcher’s Anti-Gay SpeechIl passaggio del discorso di Margaret Thatcher– tenuto al Congresso annuale dei conservatori del 1987 – in cui il Primo ministro attaccò il sistema educativo e la comunità omosessuale. |
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Mates Condoms – Chemist (1987, UK)Nel 1987 il lancio di una gamma di preservativi (e di una serie di spot per promuoverne l’utilizzo fra i giovani), creò scandalo e irritò i vertici del partito conservatore. Dietro la commercializzazione di questo prodotto – e della diffusione di questo spot – c’era l’imprenditore inglese Richard Branson. |
Credits
- Copertina: by Think Defence on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
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