Betwixt and between. The hybrid identity of a South Tyrolean Bersagliere in the 1935-1936 Italo-Abyssinian War

Sa？etak For South Tyrol, annexation by Italy after World War I resulted in significant changes: the Fascist regime attempted to Italianize the territory and its people using various measures. One of them was the obligation of young men to fulfil military service in the Italian army. Thus, for example, Andr？ Ralser served in Sicily and was afterward – in 1935 – drafted to fight in the Italo-Abyssinian War. During this period, he kept a war diary. This source provides some insight into the way in which Ralser dealt with his identity at this particular time. This analysis is preceded by a methodological reflection on the manner in which experienced events are conveyed into a diary in general, suggesting that the writer’s biography has to be reconstructed in advance. Finally, an investigation into Ralser’s identity shows its dynamic, relative, and hybrid character and how – depending on the context – the diarist felt related to different groups such as South Tyroleans, Bersaglieri, Catholics and Europeans. The article analyses the entangled relationships between these linguistic, territorial, military and religious indicators of identification in a colonial context: when and under which circumstances did the diarist experience (or not experience) moments of group identity