The course will study Italian culture from the perspective of social and historical forces, as articulated by a broad variety of cultural, ideological, and institutional discourses.

This class is taught in English. When we think of Italy, one of the first things that springs to mind is the Italian language, often heralded as ‘beautiful,’ ‘melodic,’ and the ‘language of love.’ Beyond this stereotypical veneer, however, lies a far richer, more complex, and more complicated linguistic situation and history. Italy is in fact a microcosm of linguistic diversity, and within its borders well over thirty different, recognized languages are spoken. Many of these are regional languages referred to as dialetti (‘dialects’) by speakers and scholars alike, though they are not in fact ‘dialects’ of the standard Italian language but rather ‘sisters’ – that is, individual languages in their own right – that evolved separately from a common ancestor, Latin. Other languages, too, such as German, Slovene, Greek, and Albanian are spoken in communities throughout the peninsula, all contributing to the observation that there “is probably no other area of Europe in which such a profusion of linguistic variation is concentrated into so small a geographical area” (Martin Maiden & Mair Parry, The Dialects of Italy, 1997, London: Routledge, p. 1). This diversity provides rich grounds for linguistic exploration across structural, social, political, cultural, and historical domains. To accommodate this richness, this course is designed with a dual scope in mind. On the one hand it serves as an introduction to Italian linguistics, and as such ‘core’ areas of linguistic inquiry will be covered including phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics as they relate to Italian and to various dialetti. Along the way we will trace the evolution of Italian and the other Romance languages from Latin, noting similarities and differences both structural (e.g. patterns of sound change, changes in sentential word order) and sociocultural in nature (e.g. the famous, protracted Questione della lingua ‘the language question’ that gave birth to the idea of a standard Italian language). On the other hand, this approach will be complemented by what we can call the ‘linguistic study of Italy,’ or a study of Italy through its languages, through their use, reception, and histories as social constructs and vehicles. This will lead us to consider questions of language and identity (e.g. how do speakers of a language view that language? What does it mean to say a language is ‘endangered?’ What does it mean to say a language is ‘beautiful?’), of the linguistic implications of globalization and ‘language contact,’ and of linguistic policy (e.g. linguistic ‘autarchy’ under the Fascist regime), among others. Both ‘components’ of the course will often blend as we encounter and analyze real-world data, whether in assessing regional variations in vocabulary, deducing patterns in metaphoric language, or in examining Italians’ famous gestures. No background in Italian or linguistics is necessary to enroll in this course, though students with knowledge of Italian or any other Romance language are particularly encouraged to enroll, as our investigations will often bring us into dialogue with the Romance family at large. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss assigned readings and to actively participate in classroom discussions and activities. Assessments will take the form of weekly homework assignments, a series of quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final, self-designed research project.

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Requirements class fulfills