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# 72 •novemBER 16 , 2015
My comments are also based on a recent conversation with one of my students who thought “William
Shakespeare” was an Italian artist (and while I wish
I was joking about this
statement, unfortunately
I am not!). While looking
in awe at my student and
providing him with the right “origin” of the famous
writer, I decided to take
another perspective and
play a little game with my
class.
rico II- that is today, one of
the most respected culI started by asking very tural centers in Italy and
general questions:
the oldest academic instiDo you know where the tution in continuous opeFirst School of Poetry was ration. This is a testimony
born?
of the extremely culturally
I guess it is not an easy vibrant environment exianswer. The first School sting in the South of Italy
of Poetry (1230 A.D.) that even at such an early time.
produced the first poem
in “vulgar” Sicilian occur- Are there any other poered in Sicily under the vi- ts that simplify the Italian
brant and successful reign Literature besides Dante,
of Frederick II of Svevia. Petrarca and Boccaccio?
The Sicilian School was so While these popular poproductive that even Dan- ets seem to resonate bette Alighieri mentioned it ter than others for their
in his famous De vulgari contribution to the Itaeloquentia.
lian language and culture
Do you know that one of
the oldest public universities is in Naples?
The same Emperor founded in Naples (in 1224)
the first University – Fede46 | WE THE ITALIANS
www.wetheitalians.com
and their role in the literary panorama, there are
so many more to add, so
many other literary voices,
remarkable faces and testimonies of a deep un-
derstanding of the human
nature that make the Italian Literature and Culture
the exquisite example that
it is. Artists such as Carlo
Goldoni who, with his almost futuristic approach
to theater, and his Commedia Dell’Arte paved the
way of conceiving life on
the stage and performing
it in a totally new dimension and expression. Or
what about Alessandro
Manzoni, who with his The
Betrothed (1840) offered
an example of real life, of
those issues (love- hatebetrayal- identity- diversity- acceptance- awareness- rejection) that are
so modern and so deeply
rooted in the human community. Or what about
those Italian artists, poets, and playwrights who