Narrare patrimoni e costruire comunità: la rinascita del bruscello in Casentino

This contribution aims to analyse the construction of memory and the narrative practices within a Tuscan heritage community. The study relies on several interviews and data collected as part of the work for the Atlas of Intangible Heritage of Casentino and Valtiberina in order to create a profile for the bruscello, an ancient form of popular theatre in octave rhyme. Nowadays, following a fortuitous discovery, the bruscello has been reintegrated as a performance in summer events through spontaneous promotion and the support of the local ecomuseum. The essay highlights how the community negotiates the practice of being on stage, navigating between performative codes and conventions, and embracing a legitimate peripheral participation that involves both new generations and individuals from outside the area. What makes this story specific, however, is its ability to become a form of personal and collective storytelling, transforming community members into new oral sources that generate other narrative paths.