Traghettare la modernità: evoluzioni e trasformazioni del mestiere di gondoliere tra XX e XXI secolo

The gondolier’s profession has been overshadowed over the years by his special boat: the gondola. It has been extensively studied in every aspect, eclipsing the figure of those who operate it. Gondoliers found themselves confined within a reductive tourist-romantic viewpoint that turned them into almost fancy-dress clad figures. In reality, this social group, little known in its complexity, has a very rich cultural heritage handed down from one generation of gondoliers to the next. Over the last fifty years, following Venice’s entry into the international tourist circuit, the category as a whole has in turn undergone the same great changes that have affected the city, transforming them from ferrymen to tour operators (as they like to call themselves). At the same time, and unlike with other activities, gondoliers have been able to preserve and adapt what they themselves recognise as being the prominent characteristics, values and customs of their profession. A great number of transformations have taken place. These have led to the emergence of new types of professions, and the simultaneous disappearance of others that are now obsolete, allowing the category to enter the 21st century as a vital activity capable of claiming the right to its own culture, and for this reason it is still coveted by many young Venetians. In this article we will reconstruct and examine the main transformations that have allowed the survival of the category, along with the mechanisms put in place by the group to preserve its values and customs.