Language & Nationalism in Europe

1. Language & Nationalism in Europe Ch 8 Italy: Language as a Weak Marker of Identity

2. Overall role of language in Italy • Language is a weak indicator of national identity in Italy, despite substantial coincidence of linguistic, national, and state boundaries • Late development of standard Italian reduced its relevance to identity; standard language has become prevalent only with recent introduction of mass media, and mutually incomprehensible dialects remain local language varieties of choice

3. Italian identity politics • There are distinctive families of mutually intelligible dialects in certain territories that have identities • Italian has a formal standard literary language that is separate from any local spoken norm (though there is a spoken version of the literary language used by politicians) These two facts sustain ethno-nationalist sentiments

4. Lega • Lega = northern Italian separatist Lombardy League • Initially used northern dialects as an exclusionary device, but later adopted a popular colloquial variant of Italian to gain support for opposition to Rome • Rome and gov’t are perceived by many as distant, unpredictable, corrupt -- motivating desire for political self-determination

5. Language in Italy • Most varieties in Italy are Romance, nearly all are variants of Italian, based on Tuscan dialect • N dialects show Celtic influence: Gallo-Italian & Venetian • S dialects: Umbrian, Tuscan

6. Language in Italy, cont’d. • Remember that dialects are sisters, not daughters, of Italian • Many dialects have remained distinct, have a variety of registers, and have produced valuable literatures (e.g. 14th c Florentine) • Today most Italians know the standard language and speak a dialect of Italian

7. Dialects in Italy • Sardinian dialects -- a distinct language not comprehensible to mainland Italians • Valle d’Aosta -- these dialects are Franco-Provençal, not Italian, and in this region both French and Italian are standard languages

8. Dialects in Italy, cont’d. • Friuli region -- most people are bi/tri-lingual, using standard Italian, German dialects, and Friulian, which is a Romance dialect related to Romansch of Switzerland (but considered by Italians to be an Italian dialect)

9. Dialects in Italy, cont’d. • Alto Adige/South Tyrol (NE border) -- bilingualism with German, official bilingualism has defused demands for unification with Austria

10. Other small minorities with no political demands • Slovene in NorthEast • Albanian & Italiot Greek in South

11. Back to Italian in Italy… • Italians from North and South often find each other’s speech unintelligible • For most Italians, language is of secondary importance, not a source of identity • Political fragmentation lasted until 19th c, and this contributed to linguistic fragmentation • For centuries Latin was used as administrative language • Early attempts to create a standard language were based on archaic literature and did not inspire real unification

12. Early nationalism • Minimized internal linguistic differences for unification purposes • Maximized external linguistic differences • BUT: “The majority of Italians were never particularly interested in the process of national unification, or in the creation of a national language.”

13. 1861 - Year of Italian Unification • At that time, only 2.5% of the population spoke a language called “italiano”, which was not a marker of identity • “the push for nationalism emerged from the contempt the educated classes in cities had for foreign occupiers”, but the peasantry did not follow this lead • “Italy had been created, now it is the Italians who are to be made.”

14. But were the Italians ever made? • In some sense, this never really happened • Very high illiteracy rate persisted through 1930s, keeping access to standard Italian low

15. But were the Italians ever made? • Fascism brought standard Italian to the masses: propaganda, films, universal primary education emphasized pride in the nation and standard Italian • Fascism brought a change from formal to familiar address, avoidance of foreign borrowings, and suppression of minority languages

16. After WWII • After Fascism, fascist ideology, including linguistic pride, receded • 1950s brought an economic boom, mass media, and migrations, which helped spread standard language • Political parties, trade unions, and social movements also promoted spread of standard language

17. Recent history • 1960s-70s -- Large growth in proportion of speakers of standard Italian -- grew to exceed 25% who use it exclusively, 32% who use it alongside a dialect (diglossia); still, proportion of people speaking standard Italian is limited • Upper strata use/identify with standard Italian the most • Dialects remain viable, gradually losing distinctiveness due to mass communication and geographic mobility

18. Language & politics in Italy today • Lega, which initially represented the North, now has broader national appeal, perceives language as a carrier of social identity, sought to identify North Italian dialects as a separate language, focus on street-tough, macho language • Recent resurgence of nationalist & regionalist sentiments

19. Language & politics in Italy today, cont’d. • Lack of national pride due to losing WWII, Mafia, and other social ills, corruption • Standard Italian has become predominant, but has lost its literary character