ITALY Images of “il bel paese”

GEOGRAPHICAL IMAGE

- Founding member of EU

- “Italy” since 1861

HISTORICAL IMAGES

1829

1861

Kingdom of Italy

Fatta l’Italia, bisogna fare gli italiani.“

LINGUISTIC IMAGE

After l’Unità d’Italia only 2.5-10% of Italians could speak standard Italian

CONTEMPORARYIMAGES

STEREOTYPICAL (?) IMAGES

Giovanni Falcone e Paolo Borsellino

Roberto Saviano

MAFIA

FAMILY

2012: 1.42 children per woman

FAMILY IS:

Free counseling centre

Bank

Employment ajency

MAMMA-LOVERS(MAMMONI)

Different education system

High youth unemployment rate

FUGA DI CERVELLIIn 2014 for the first time in years emigration from Italy was higher than immigration to Italy.

RELIGION

Catholics: +60% Practicing Catholics: around 30%

The Vatican City is technically NOT Italy

PASTA, PIZZA, WINE ETC.

Pizza once a week

Pasta consumption has dropped from 40kg to 31kg per family per year in the past decade

Wine vs. “La bella figura”

Italian is the language with the highest number of words related to food

FOOD YOU WON’T FIND ANYWHERE IN ITALY Fettuccine Alfredo Garlic bread Spaghetti with meatballs Pesto on anything which is not pasta Parmesan Chicken carbonara

Italians speak and eat in dialects.“

ITALIANS ARE SEXY

Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren (the Golden Age of Italian cinema)

“Latin lover” myth (yes, it’s a myth, I am sorry)

GESTURES