LA EXPRESIÓN DE LA AGENTIVIDAD EN ESPAÑOL E ITALIANO. LA ATENUACIÓN DEL AGENTE EN LAS NARRACIONES DE ACONTECIMIENTOS TRAUMÁTICOS

The aim of this paper is to present part of the theoretical and analytical results of a research project on the narration of traumatic events such as war, death, exile and abandonment. In the narrations speakers build their emotions through linguistic and discursive choices and, in doing so, they build different formats of production and reception. The stories of traumatic events discussed proceed from oral narration in Italian and Spanish. The theoretical framework is that of cultural anthropology and social constructivism where the language is considered a means through which emotions are built and shaped. We start from the work of D. Schiffrin (1996) in which the author emphasizes that narrative allows the projection and the definition of identities, in fact they cannot be considered “established” and “fixed” because they depend on what the speakers “do” talking, depend on recipients and on the activities in which speakers are involved while talking: “narrative is a means by which to arrive at an understanding of the self as emergent from actions and experiences. The form, content and performance of narrative thus all provide sensitive indices of our personal selves and our social and cultural identities.” (1996: 194).

Obiettivo del presente lavoro è discutere parte dei risultati di un progetto di ricerca sulla narrazione di eventi traumatici quali la guerra, la morte, l'esilio e l'abbandono. Nelle narrazioni i parlanti costruiscono le emozioni grazie alle scelte linguistiche e all'uso di strutture discorsive specifiche; nel fare ciò, costruiscono anche diversi formati di ricezione e, dunque, differenti identità destinatarie. I dati sono narrazioni orali in italiano e in spagnolo. Il quadro teorico è rappresentato dall'antropologia culturale e dal costruttivismo sociale, cornici nelle quali la lingua è un mezzo attraverso cui le emozioni si costruiscono e prendono forma. “Narrative is a means by which to arrive at an understanding of the self as emergent from actions and experiences. The form, content and performance of narrative thus all provide sensitive indices of our personal selves and our social and cultural identities.” (Schiffrin, 1996: 194).