Sapienza Ricerca 2011

We aim at creating an Italian Language Pavillion as a permanent exhibition, aimed ai guiding the general public through the history of Italian, its nature, development and uses, from its modern origins to the present day. An exhibition of linguistic identity, Italian and European. We have identified 7 lines of research which will correspond to 7 itineraries through the exhibition: – Latin (1) – The languages of Europe (2) – Writing a language (3) – The canon of European literature (4) – Language and otherness (5) – Language and institutions (6) – Language and gender (7) Italian existed before it became a spoken language; Dante founded the language of poetry which Petrarch exported to Europe; Bembo wrote the canon of a language he wrote masterfully, but could not speak; Manzoni established Florentine as a national language, but would speak milanese and French. In the past century Italian has eventually become the language of Italy and its institutions and a spoken language. Dialects have not disappeared, though, and survive alongside the national language; and other languages and cultures have now become part of our national heritage: men and women born in other continents through migration and work have acquired Italian as their language and use it daily, even for artistic purposes.