Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Emboc
Topic: Introduction to Italian History, Cultures,
Traditions, and Beliefs
Reference:
http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince03.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Longfellows-TranslationComplete/dp/1407605984
:
Introduction to Italian HISTORY, CULTURES, TRADITIONS, AND BELIEFS
The word Italy is from the Latin word Italia. The name Italia originally pertained
to a part of what is now Southern Italy according to Antiochus of Syracuse, the
southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula which is now the modern Calabria. It
was not until the reign of Emperor Augustus that the term Italia would be used
to cover the entire peninsula until the Alps.
GOVERNMENT
-The country is officially called Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy.
-It became a republic after the referendum held on June 2,1946.
-This is also the first time that Italian woman were given the right to vote.
-The Republican constitution was approved on January 1, 1948.
-Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic, which is bicameral in structure:
Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
-The Prime Minister is the head of the State.
GEOGRAPHY
-Italy is situated in south-central Europe.
-It consists of a peninsula shaped like a high-heeled boot and several islands.
-The most two important of the island are: Sicily in the South and Sardinia in
the northwest.
-Mediterranean Sea is to the south
Brief History
-During the pre-Roman history of the country, Italy is inhabited by such groups of
people as Umbrians, Latins (the ascendants of the Romans) , Vlosci, Samnites,
Celts and Ligures in the North.They were of Indo-European stock.
-Non-Indo-European people in Italy include the Etruscans, Elymians, Sicani and
the Sardinians.
-History has it that the first real major power in the Italian Peninsula was the
Etruscans.
-It was politically united during the Roman Empire on 90 C.E. After the fall of the
Roman Empire, Germanic Tribe conquered Italy, but it was brought back to the
realm to fold through the efforts of the East Roman Emperor Justinian. Late in
the same century, the Lombard reign of Italy was absorbed into the Frankish
culture to Italy, and under the Franks, the church of Rome gained much political
influence. The popes were given a great deal of autonomy and were left with
control over the legal and administrative system of Rome, including defense.
-In 1348, majority of European nations were stricken by the Black Death
pandemic.It left its mark in Italy by killing one-third of the population. A period of
recovery ensued leading to the resurgence of cities and the flourishing of trade,
commerce and the arts.
-This period of fast-paced development triggered the onset of Humanism and
Renaissance---two cultural movements which took their first roots in Italy before
finally spreading out in Europe.
-It was during the 14th and 15th centuries that Italy was divided into a great
schism of warring city-states; the rest of the peninsula being occupied by Papal
states and Naples.
-Italian rivalries of status, class, family, and hometown prevented unity
throughout its history
-The period from the fifteenth through the mid-eighteenth centuries were marked
periods of divisiveness among warring clans and families.
-Nations grew and their ambitions, as well as those of the Italian city-states,
continued to cause undue pestilence to Italy. France and Spain interfered in
Italian affairs.
-Under the leadership of Victor Emmanuel, Count de Cavour, and Giuseppe
Garibaldi, the various city-states moved toward unit. The creation of the kingdom
of Italy is undeniably made possible through the efforts of Italian monarchist and
nationalists.
-Italy underwent a surge of political and economic events during the World War 1
and II. More than 650,000 Italian soldiers sacrificed their lives on the battlefield
during the World War I . Under the Peace Treaties entered into by the country,
Italy regained promised territories, including Fiume. Italy allied with Nazi
Germany and Japan with Mussolini as the military leader in World War II. It was
subdued by the allied forces in September 1943. Around 500,000 Italians died in
the war and the Italian economy collapsed.
-Italy became a Republic on June 2, 1946.
LANGUAGE
The official language is Italian which was adopted after Italy was unified in 1946.
-Several dialects are spoken all over the country, but Italian is used as the
medium of instruction in schools and as a medium of communication in the
government.
Pompeii, ancient Roman city whose incredibly well-preserved ruins now form a
popular UNESCO world Heritage site
Leaning Tower of Pisa, an iconic bell Tower, renowned for its slanted stance
Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy, most famous for being the burial
place of many of the citys most iconic figures
-Italy has a cultural heritage that exerts great impact to Italian consciousness.
-The city of Rome itself a dynamic and living museum.
-The archaeological Museums in Naples are certainly among the world best.
The Italian Renaissance is well represented in a number of museums.
-The Uffizi Museum contains the obra maestro of Michelangelo, Leonado da
Vinci, Botticelli, Piero delle Francesca, Giovanni Bellini, and Titian.
-The Bargello has specialized in Florentine sculpture, with works by
Michelangelo, Benvenuto Cellini, Donatello, and the Della Robbia family.
-The Pitti Palace has a fine collection of paintings by Rafael, as well as about
five hundred important works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which
were collected by the Medici and Lorraine Families.
Leonardo da Vinci,
one of the greatest artist of all time
If you want to see the best the and the finest of Western architecture, Italy is the
greatest place to be, as evidence by such architectural wonders as the
Colosseum, Milan Cathedral, Florence Cathedral, The leaning Tower of Pisa and
building designs in Venice.
______________________-PICTURES
grape vines and fastest booming wine industry, creative and high-end
automobile, industrial, Italy is visited not only because of its rich ancient cultural
heritage, but also of its vast fields of appliance, fashion design.
-It is regarded as the worlds largest wine producer.
-Modern high fashion clothing finds its birth in Italy.
-Magnificient fashion houses such as Fendi, Gucci, Armani and Versace, to name
a few, undeniably are household brands. Milan is regar
Lamborghini, Maserati, and Ferrari and other brands of luxury cars.
ded as the center of fashion in the world.
-Italy is also the center of the worlds most elite vehicles
-Italin have high literacy rate. It is home to among the largest universities in the
world. La Sapienza University in Rome is mecca for international students as it
is Europes Largest with 140,000 students. The world oldest college in the
Western world is the University of Bologna which is located in Italy.
-Arts and Literature flourished during the height of Humanism and Renaissance
in Italy.
-Notable artist in Italy include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Fra
Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Rafael.
-Rome is home to scientific greeks in the past.
-Leonardo da Vinci- apart from being consummate artist is also an advanced
scientific thinker. He already a daring speculations on anatomy, meteorology,
geology and hydrology.
-Bella figura is more than dressing well. It extends to the aura you manifest tooconfidence, mode, character, etc.
Literature
Italian literature has wide-ranging, rich, and varied origin and development. It
began after the foundinh of Rome in 753 BC. The early writings of the Italians are
essentially based on the early works of Roman writers who left indelible marks in
Italian literature such as Pliny the Elder, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Livy and propertius.
Italian literature has a close affinity with the Roman and Greek literature. Until
about the thirteenth century Italian literature was written in Latin. There were
various poems, legends, saints lives, chronicles and similar literature. French
and Provencal were also used in writings. Accordingly, there were even some
poets before Dante. Worthy to cite are Guittone dArrezo and Guido Guinizelli,
the founder of the dolce stil nuovo-sweet new style.
The modern Italian Literature in the Italian language was molded and fashioned
into classical works through the efforts of the great triumvirate in Dante Alighieri,
Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch. Their works has been the models and basis of
the later Italian writings for the next hundreds of years after them. Divine comedy
of Dante is unquestionably a magnum opus in the world of poetry. Boccaccios
Decameron set the trend in the great collections of stories ever written . The love
Poetry of Petrarch has inspired writers in the next hundred years such as
Shakespeare and Byron.
Next to Dante in terms of literary greatness in Italy is Petrarch. He is being cited
as responsible in restoring classical Latin as the language of scholarship and
literature. Petrarch perceived that Italy was a successor of Rome, and he worked
to advance Italian nationalisms and unity. His work in Italian is Petrarchs greatest
contribution to literature. His famous sonnets to Laura gave Italian literature a
unique flavor and brought to it a fiery passion.
Boccaccios Decameron (1353) drew on both Dante and Petrarch influences and
in turn influenced numerous writers. It not only uses the vernacular but also uses
true-to-life stories.
Dante Alighierei,Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and
political thinker
The Renaissance in Italy brought to the country noble ideas and great literary
insights. The period of the High Renaissance produced men of Highly
exceptional and talents and genius. They include Michelangelo, Leon Battista
Alberti, and Leonardo da Vinci, among others. These men were supported by
patrons of the arts such as Lorenzo de Medici and the Popes, such as Alexander
VI.
According to literary scholarship, the first major Italian drama was Orfeo written
by Angelo Poliziano in 1480. There were still woks done in the medieval geste
style, which were based on the medieval romances.
The works of Pietro Bembo , Niccoli Machiavelli , and Ariosto in the sixteenth
century brought Italian literature to another dimension and to great heights.
Machiavelli is best known for the prince (1640), the first practical work of political
science and a call for Italian unity. The political essays in Niccoli Machiavellis
The Prince in 1513 is without a doubt a unique woks of its own. It is comparable
to the chinese work The art of war.
Aristos poem, Orlando Furioso (1516) is an epic dealing with Charlemagne, an
old theme but with a new sophistication. Orlando Furioso presents an old picture
with twists and turns. Italian literature finds new interests , life and warmth.
After world war II Italian literature took flight to attain excellence and
magnificience. Modern Italian literature experienced a great awakening which led
to the creations of high qualityliterary outputs. In poetry, there are Giuseppe,
Ungaretti, Eugenio Montale, and Salvatore Quasimodo. In fiction there are carlo
Levi, Elio Vittorini, Vasco Pratolini, Mario Doldati, Cesare Pavese, Vitaliano
Brancati, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Alberto Moravia, Giorgia Bassani,
Dino Buzzati, Elsa Morante, Natalia Levi Ginzburg, Primo Levi , and Umberto
Ecco.
the
various
kinds
of
states:
republics,
hereditary
Hereditary principalities
Mixed principalities
New principalities
Ecclesiastical principalities
The types of army:
Auxiliaries
Native Troops
Mixed Troops
The character and behavior of the prince:
a. Character
Leo X was a patron of the Italian Renaissance and used his clout
to appoint relatives, such as Lorenzo de Medici, to positions of
power.
b. Setting
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c. Plot
Initial incident
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Rising
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Climax
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Falling
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Solution
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d. Conflict
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e. Point of view
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f. Theme
Free will
Cruelty
Arms
History
Generosity
The church
g. Interpretation
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h. Gained insight
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Purgatorio
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Dante and Virgil emerge from hell just before the dawn of
Easter Sunday, and in Purgatorio Dante begins the
a. Person/Voice
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The author
b. Theme
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d. Diction
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f. Symbols
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g. Sound Devices
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Rhyme
h. Figurative language
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Imagery