Italy: Be Fluent in Italian Life and CultureAndrew Whittaker Speak the Culture: Italy offers a rich and engaging insight into the events, people and movements that have shaped Italy and the Italians. A guidebook can show you where to go, a phrase-book what to say, but only Speak the Culture: Italy will lead you to the nation's soul. The Italian character is complex, contradictory, alluring and infinitely variable: heirs to the greatest empire of the ancient world but almost ungovernable; cradle of western civilization as well as the Mafia; maestros of modern design, mired in old-fashioned bureaucracy; epicentre of the Catholic Church and exemplars of la dolce vita. Where do you start? Giotto? Caravaggio? Murky Etruscan tombs or the mighty Roman Pantheon? Speak the Culture: Italy sifts through a sprawling 3,000 year saga and makes sense of it, dissecting architecture, music, food, art, literature, cinema, family and much more. Culture is covered in its broadest sense, extending into every aspect of Italian life--food and drink, religion, politics, sport, manners, character and so on. While the Italian peninsula has its ancient history, it's been a unified nation for less than 150 years. Lo Stivale, or the famous Boot, is young: the nuances of strong, surviving regional identities are important and revealed. Taken as a whole, Speak the Culture: Italy gives you an insight into what it means to be Italian, but it's also a book to dip into, to learn, for instance, about Giuseppe Verdi, Sophia Loren or Umberto Eco. Easily read and beautifully illustrated, this, the fourth in the Speak the Cultureseries, offers an intimate understanding of Italian life and culture for new residents, second home-owners, holidaymakers, business travelers, students and lovers of Italy everywhere. |
Contents
Italian regioni | |
used to rule the world? | |
Ages into the light | |
the making | |
belonging | |
and design | |
the power of Baroque | |
modern | |
the medieval | |
Baroque p128 | |
comedy p161 | |
Common terms and phrases
20th century American Ancient apparently architecture and design artists Baroque became become began born brought buildings called cent century Church Cinema and fashion Classical comedy and fashion dance and comedy death design dance early Emperor Europe famous Fascist fashion communications figures films first Florence followed Food and drink foreign foundations and philosophy French grape Greek hands helped Identity important Italian Italy Italy’s known late later Literature and philosophy Living culture look Media and communications Milan million moved Music Mussolini northern notably opera original painting performance perhaps philosophy and design plays political Pope popular produced region remains Renaissance Roman Rome Sicily story style success theatre took town tradition usually Venice wine writers