{"id":404,"date":"2010-05-21T10:29:59","date_gmt":"2010-05-21T10:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=404"},"modified":"2010-05-21T10:34:38","modified_gmt":"2010-05-21T10:34:38","slug":"litalia-in-cinque-parole-la-risposta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/litalia-in-cinque-parole-la-risposta\/","title":{"rendered":"L’Italia in Cinque Parole – la risposta!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog entitled ‘L’Italia in Cinque Parole’<\/strong> in which I asked readers to describe Italy and the Italians in five words or short phrases. The response was quite overwhelming, and I began to think that I’d bitten off more than I could chew! The hardest part of the exercise was to get our Italian friends to participate. Either they replied with the ubiquitous ‘Boh!’ or they composed lengthy odes to their country and culture, see for example my mother’s comments at the end of this blog.<\/font><\/p>\n

However, after much head scratching, heated discussion, and writing of lists, here is what we have come up with. The table below is an amalgam of all of the readers’ comments. There are five categories listed in order of importance, with the most frequently recurring words highlighted in red. The sixth row lists general observations:<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
People<\/font>
<\/strong>friendly
passionate
helpful
family
expressive
celebratory
proud
warm <\/font>
happy
<\/font>‘appreciative of food’
bella figura <\/font><\/td>\n		–
welcoming<\/font> 
temperamental
loving
healthy cynicism
anarchic
generous
emotional 
unpretentious
pleasantly crazy
religious
formal<\/font><\/font><\/td>\n		–
music loving
traditional
conversational 
gracious<\/font>
cheerful
open
animated
‘unfriendliness towards tourists’   
distant
sultry<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Food <\/font>
<\/strong>delicious<\/font>
excellent
great wine
great cuisine
pizza<\/font><\/td>\n		–
slow food
strong coffee
good seafood
good olive oil <\/font><\/td>\n		–
pasta
ice cream
fresh ingredients
Parmigiano<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Country\/Landscape<\/font> 
<\/strong>beauty<\/font>
beautiful landscapes
vineyards
mountains
plains
‘varied land & seascapes’ <\/font><\/td>\n		–
le piazze
beautiful towns
historical cities
quaint mountain towns
touristy
nature <\/font><\/td>\n		–
beautiful houses 
beaches
‘heavenly Tuscan landscapes’
fertile gardens<\/font> <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
History & Arts<\/font>
<\/strong>Art
Roman ruins
architecture (history of)
Renaissance<\/font><\/td>\n		–
historical cities
churches
elegant design
expressive art\/music<\/font><\/td>\n		–
opera
folk music
‘key to development of Western civilization’<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Politics<\/font><\/strong>
Berlusconi
Mafia<\/font><\/td>\n		–
‘hostile to centralization’<\/font><\/td>\n		–
‘cynicism towards
government’<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
General
<\/font><\/strong>fashion
football
chaotic
disorganization
crazy\/erratic driving
‘quality rather than quantity’
elegance<\/font><\/td>\n		–
Mediterranean sea
surprising\/predictable
shopping
passeggiata (going for a stroll)
beautiful language
Catholic Church<\/font><\/td>\n		–
sun\/climate
endangered
variety
exquisite light
festivals
doggie do do!
good public transport <\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Now let’s see what Italians have to say about themselves:<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
People<\/font>
<\/strong>creativi\/immaginazione<\/font>
indisciplinati
‘attaccamento alle radici’ 
‘paurosi verso tutto ci\u00f2 che \u00e8 diverso’
mentalit\u00e0 anziana
mammoni
‘negati per le lingue straniere’
furbi 
altruisti
mangioni
buoni
spendaccioni
disordinati
‘genii nella disorganizzazione’
‘artisti nell’artigianalit\u00e0’ <\/p>\n

‘In Patria tendiamo a disprezzare la nostra Nazione e all’estero se qualcuno disprezza le medesime cose noi andiamo facilmente in bestia’ <\/p>\n

‘straordinaria capacit\u00e0 di confondere la passione con l’amore’ <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/td>\n

–
creative\/imagination<\/font>
undisciplined
‘attachment to our roots’ 
‘afraid of everything that is different’
old mentality
‘tied to our mother’s apron strings’
‘hopeless at foreign languages’
shrewd
altruists
big eaters
good
big spenders 
untidy
‘geniuses of disorganization’
‘artists in craftsmanship’ <\/p>\n

‘In our own Country we tend to scorn our Nation, and abroad if someone does the same thing we get angry straight away’. <\/p>\n

‘extraordinary capacity to confuse passion with love’<\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Country\/Landscape<\/font>
<\/strong>‘bella in tutte le sue variet\u00e0’
‘paesaggio di una bellezza incredibile’
‘ricchezza dell’habitat’
‘variet\u00e0 di paesaggio e clima’<\/font><\/td>\n		–
‘beautiful in all its varieties’
‘incredibly beautiful landscape’
‘richness of habitat’
‘variety of landscape & climate’<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Food<\/font>
<\/strong>buon cibo
buon vino
cucina regionale<\/font><\/td>\n		–
good food
good wine
regional cooking<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
History & Arts<\/font>
<\/strong>bellezza artistica stupefacente
‘grande ricchezza storica e artistica’
‘il fardello della storia’<\/font><\/td>\n		–
astonishing artistic beauty
‘great historic and artistic wealth’
‘the burden of history’<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Politics<\/font>
<\/strong>Mafia
‘Non cittadini ma sudditi (non vogliamo prendere decisioni)’ <\/p>\n

‘L’Italia \u00e8 poco coraggiosa nel far sentire la propria voce nel mondo’<\/font><\/td>\n

–
Mafia
‘not citizens but subjects (we don’t want to take decisions)’ <\/p>\n

‘Italy lacks courage in making its voice heard to the rest of the world’<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

General<\/font>
<\/strong>variet\u00e0 culturale
diversit\u00e0 linguistica\/dialetti
sole
‘armonia nel comunicare con tutto il corpo’ <\/p>\n

‘la bellezza della lingua e del modo di esprimersi con tutta l’anima’ <\/p>\n

‘vita vissuta all’aperto’
calcio 
belt\u00e0
eleganza<\/font><\/td>\n

–
cultural variety
linguistic diversity\/dialects
sun
‘harmony in communicating with the whole body’ <\/p>\n

‘the beauty of the language and of the way in which one expresses oneself with the whole soul’. 
‘life lived in the open’
football 
beauty
elegance<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here are my mother’s comments:<\/font><\/p>\n

‘L’Italia \u00e8 un Paese bello e vario, scaldato dal sole, accarezzato dal mare, rivestito di verdi boschi, incoronato di bianca neve’ <\/strong>(Italy is a beautiful and varied country, warmed by the sun, caressed by the sea, covered by green forests, crowned by white snow).<\/font><\/p>\n

‘L’Italia \u00e8 il giardino di tutte le Muse, per\u00f2 purtroppo ormai invasa da tutti gli pseudo intellettuali e artisti autodefinitisi tali’ <\/strong>(Italy is the garden of all the Muses, but unfortunately it has now been invaded by all the pseudo, self proclaimed, intellectuals and artist).<\/font><\/p>\n

‘Gli italiani sono un popolo geniale, ospitale, generoso, ma insofferente di ogni ordine e legge’ <\/strong>(Italians are ingenious, hospitable, and generous people, but are intolerant of any order and laws).<\/font><\/p>\n

Finally, a thought from my friend Cecilia:<\/font><\/p>\n

‘L’Italia pu\u00f2 essere paragonata alla maschera carnevalesca di Arlecchino: il suo vestito multicolore fatto da tanti pezzi diversi di stoffe rappresenta l’Italia che \u00e8 fatta dall’unione di tanti piccoli stati diversi. Inoltre, Arlecchino \u00e8 sempre allegro, ma anche molto povero e sfortunato’ <\/strong>(Italy can be compared to the Carnival character of Harlequin: his multicolored costume made from many different pieces of fabric represents Italy, which is made from the union of many different little states. Moreover, Harlequin is always cheerful, but also very poor and unlucky).<\/font><\/p>\n

I would really like to hear your thoughts and opinions about these lists of words and phrases. What conclusions can be drawn from them, how does the <\/font>list of comments from readers of this blog who live in other countries compare with that created by the Italians who live in Italy? I think there is enough material here for another interesting blog, so if you would like to contribute please leave your comment below.  <\/font><\/p>\n

A presto!<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog entitled ‘L’Italia in Cinque Parole’ in which I asked readers to describe Italy and the Italians in five words or short phrases. The response was quite overwhelming, and I began to think that I’d bitten off more than I could chew! The hardest part of the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8949],"class_list":["post-404","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-litalia-in-cinque-parole"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}