Today marks the beginning of Week of the Italian Language in the World, this year in its 18th edition. The initiative is organised under the auspices of the Italian president and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with high-profile partners including the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, the Accademia della Crusca, the European Design Institute, RAI television, the network of Swiss consulates and the Dante Alighieri Society. From 15 to 21 October, Italian institutions in over 80 countries will be holding events to promote Italy’s rich and diverse linguistic heritage.
The theme this year is “Italian and the internet, networks for Italian”, in reference to the influence of the internet and new digital technologies both on language itself and on methods of communication. Numerous institutions in the UK will be holding events on literature, art, music and film as part of the initiative.
In London, the Italian Cultural Institute will be holding an event entitled “Dialogues on man. Homo Ludens 2.0. From dice to social networks: what game are we playing?” (Wednesday 17 October), part of a series of four events on contemporary anthropology organised in collaboration with Pistoia Dialoghi with the support of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Pistoia e Pescia. During the event, Stefano Bartezzaghi and Robert Gordon will discuss the multifaceted nature of games, with their tension between rules and freedom, fiction and reality.
The Festival of Italian Literature in London (FILL), this year in its second edition, will take place on 27 and 28 October, organised by the Italian Cultural Institute in collaboration with the community of London-based Italian authors. With 15 events and featuring over 40 guests, including established authors and newcomers to the Italian literary scene, the festival will showcase Italian literature emerging from the UK. Guests include Walter Siti and Nicola Lagioa, both winners of the Strega prize; Mathias Énard, the winner of the Goncourt prize; the Somali-Italian author Igiaba Scego; and Lorenzo Pezzani of Forensic Architecture, an agency nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize.
The Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh will also be holding numerous initiatives for Italian Language Week. The opening event will be a lecture entitled “L’italiano (e le sue varietà) nella rete: problemi descrittivi e aspetti di carattere generale” [“Italian (and its varieties) on the web: descriptive problems and general aspects”], by Paolo D’Achille, a lecturer on Italian linguistics at the University of Rome III. This will be followed by a seminar entitled “Fake News, Truth and the Media”, by Dr Paolo Cavaliere, a lecturer in digital media and IT law at the University of Edinburgh. The final event will be “Pirandello and Translation: Transfer, Transformation and the Transcultural”, with Professor Susan Bassnett and other scholars, focusing on the transcultural aspects of translating the works of Luigi Pirandello, the renowned Sicilian dramatist, novelist, poet who won a Nobel prize for literature. The event will include a presentation of the book A New ‘Woman’ in Verga and Pirandello by Enza De Francisci and a screening of the film Dreaming (or am I?) by Simon Image.
For further information, please contact: press.ItalyinUK@esteri.it
