Ma «i bimbi d’Italia si chiaman [ancora] Balilla»? La (s)comparsa di un nome come fenomeno di transizione storica

(Are children in Italy still called “balilla”? The (dis)appearance of a name as historic transition phenomenon). This paper aims to reconstruct the history of the name Balilla, in many ways still poorly understood. For over three centuries this name has gone through (often concealed) the Italian culture, from the earliest attestation in the 17th century, up to its expansion as emblem of the Italian Risorgimento in the 19th century, from the boom during the Fascist period, when the name became a common word and one of the key terms of the fascist rhetoric, up to the sudden and inescapable decline in the second half of the 20th century. The definition of the various stages of this history allows to outline the historical reasons, both of linguistic and extra-linguistic nature, that led first to its fortune, and then to its decadence: two seemingly contradictory outcomes, but that appear perfectly consistent with the historical and political changes that characterized Italy in the last century. However, even if it is possible to trace the phases of the fortunes of this name, the same cannot be said for its etymology, which remains obscure in many respects. Certainly, if the use and diffusion of the word relate closely to some important moments in the Italian history, its native environment refers to Genoa, where the name was created. So this where we will have to start for our reconstruction.