Italian language, Renzi: “we Need a giant bet on the “made in Italy” – The Republic

“With the stability law, we have invested money in schools for the Italian abroad, but we need a gigantic cultural bet on made in Italy. If we want the Italian to be studied, we can not stop to the literature”. Thus, the president of the council Matteo Renzi has opened the States General of The Italian Language in the world, two days of meetings and studies in Florence.

in reference to the italians that the study of our language abroad, he explained: “it Is a number amazing (two million and 300 thousand people in the world) but still very small compared to the other (the comparison with the French does not hold). In China there are 54 applications to study Italian, but this path may not be played on the laws of large numbers. Where then lies the key to a possible development? A great investment on Italy in the world: it is true that we are only 60 million, but in the list of the trademarks of the Italian is the second language used – he continued – this involves problems, because it defines the Italian expression, it is also what the Italian is not. We make the expenditure in the field of food: the parmesan against the parmesan. Next to this problematic aspect there are even sides to take advantage of. In the Italian label is contained an evocation of the beauty that is positive from the commercial point of view. It is the same ambivalence that is contained in the word crisis is a moment of difficulty but also of opportunity”.

“Tomorrow our Country is the host of the last State dinner of president Obama: it is symbolic, not personal, is the recognition of our beloved and main ally as it can be strong of a friendship, a report,” he added Renzi asking for a commitment to the promotion of Italian culture. That is not only literature, but also cinema, music, art: “we Need a frame that keeps together the great companies, the great reality, film and culture in general. The government is there, but it’s up to each of us to do something: the world needs beauty, and calls it Italy. For this, I ask a help to all. Globalization is not a danger, it is the greatest opportunity that we have.”

To open the proceedings of the States-General also, the minister of Education, Stefania Giannini: “the number of The question of the Italian institutes of culture and universities abroad has increased considerably – it has emphasized – in 2014 students stood at 1.5 million, while today it has soared to 2.3 million. We had promised to set up a class competition specific to the Italian as a second language, and today this has become a reality”.

Before Renzi and Giannini was also addressed by the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella: “it Is now a usual appointment to meet in Florence to discuss Italian language – has commentanto in front of a Hall of the five hundred crowded – the first edition of the States general in 2014 was held here and from here go in a city that has a unique relationship with the Italian language and where there is the Accademia della Crusca. Here the Italian language was born with Dante, and 90% of the vocabulary in use today is already present in the Divine Comedy. The modern Italian is derived directly from the vernacular of the florentine”. Nardella continued by explaining how important it is to “promote the Italian language: we can not deny the need for an ever greater internationalisation, which steps away from the knowledge of multiple languages. However, this should not lead to a cultural impoverishment. The music, the art, the fashion, speak Italian. Supplant our language with the use of substitutes, and foreign it means to her to be a dead language”.

The mayor of Florence, has also stressed how “crucial the use of Italian

for the reception of migrants. Promote the language means building a bridge between different cultures and break down the walls”. In 2014 had been thrown some challenges, which the mayor reiterates: “We talked about expanding the use abroad of symphonic works and opera (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has recently played a concert in Tunisia), but also of the idea of a Erasmus of the arts that would bring more and more young people to the Italian language”.

Topics:

florence

the states general of the Italian language

Starring:

Matteo Renzi