“2013 Year of (north) Italian Culture in the United States”... Northern Italian Cultural Hegemony foisted on American Terroni

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Introduction

On December 12, 2012, at a press conference in Washington D.C. the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Guilio Terzi di Dant’Agata (a native of Bergamo, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy near the Swiss border), inaugurated “2013 – The Year of Italian Culture in the United States.”

“The aim of this initiative is to showcase the best of Italian arts and culture in some forty major American cities...during the press conference, an official calendar of events was released.” (see http://www.i-italy.org/34992/launching-2013-year-italian-culture [4]).

However, as will be demonstrated in this article, with all due respect, what Minister Terzi calls “Italian arts and culture” is in fact “Northern Italian arts and culture.” The documentation of this FACT is, as will be demonstrated below, in the “official calendar of events” presented by the Minister at his press conference.

While the immediate purpose of this article is to demonstrate the northern cultural bias of the events described in the “Italy 2013 official calendar of events”, the broader and more significant purpose is to further develop the factual basis of the thesis of northern cultural hegemony.

Discussion of the concept of northern cultural hegemony of the South was initiated in the nineteenth century (e.g. Villari, Franchetti, Sonnio...), was further developed in the early twentieth century by Antonio Gramsci; more recently explored by Jane Schneider et al (Italy’s “Southern Question”); and most recently in Pino Aprile’s very excellent social history of the South Terroni.

In short, this article is not meant as a criticism per se of “2013 – The Year of Italian Culture in the United States”; rather, it is meant to be an empirical contribution to the centuries old discussion of Southern Italian cultural history vis-a-vis the North, and the implications that history has for the near seventeen million Americans of southern-Italian descent.

Methodology

The year long schedule and description of ‘Italy in US 2013’ events is described in two on-line interlinked publications:

Italy in US 2013 – Calendar of Events http://www.pubblicazionidigitali.it/ItalyinUS_2013.html [5]

A Year long journey: the Year of Italian Culture in the United States http://www.italyinus2013.org/en/ [6]

The ‘Calendar’ site identifies and describes what events will take place, in what month along with a brief description of the event (people, themes, places, etc.).

The ‘Year long journey’ site provides, in many cases, more detailed descriptions of the ‘Calendar’ captions.

For example, page 59 of the Calendar’s “Cinema and Photography” section indicates that the event “Italian Photographers” featuring the work of photographers in the “Philips Collection” will be held in March 2013 in Washington DC.

However, the Calendar does not indicate who exactly are the photographers. By going to the ‘Year long journey’ site, one can find the names of the photographers featured in the “Philips Collection”.

Further, by using Google search one can find the biographic information of the photographers such as where they were born, went to school and worked. This biographic information allows one to determine the proportion of photographers in the “Philips Collection” who are from northern Italy and the South.

Also, Google Internet searches provide other types of information. For example, the Calendar indicates that in February there is an event “Italian Women in the Arts” in Washington DC. Neither the 'Calender' nor 'Year long journey' sites indicate the names of the women artist. However, the Internet site by that name list many of the Italian women artist, whom I have included in my itemized list below.

More generally, references in Calendar, Year long journey and Internet searches provide a wealth of biographic, geographic and other information pertaining to events in Italian cultural history allowing one to determine the overall proportions of northern vs. southern culture celebrated in the Italy in US 2013 program.

Below is a page by page analysis of the Art, Music and Theatre, Cinema and Photography, and Italian Language and Literature sections in the publication Italy in US 2013 .

Summary Statistics

In short, the total number of northern artists and artistic references in the "Calendar of Events" is 145, and the total number of references to the South is 19.

This is to say that 88% of the references in the description of events for US 2013 are references to northern persons, places or things, and 12 % are references to the South.

The table below summarizes the number of references and corresponding percentages for each of the four ‘arts’ sections of the US 2013 Calendar considered. Thus, for example, in the ART section of the US 2013 Calendar there are 47 references to the North and 4 to the South. On a percentage basis 92% of the references are northern and 8% to the South.

Section	North #	South #	Total #	North %	South %
ART	47	4	51	92%	8%
Music and Theatre	47	9	56	84%	16%
Cinema and Photography	32	6	38	84%	16%
Italian Language and Literature	19	1	20	95%	5%
Total	145	20	165	88%	12%

A total of 145 to 20 (88% to 12%) North vs. South references, clearly and unequivocally demonstrating that the 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the US is a case study in northern Italian cultural hegemony of southern Italy.

Clearly Italy in the title Italy in US 2013 means northern Italy to the near exclusion of Italy south of Rome and a cultural hegemony being extended to the near seventeen million Americans of southern Italian descent.

Below is a page by page analysis of the Italy in US 2013 Calendar; the raw data from which the above table was created.

This whole presentation is designed to facilate verification. Any social scientifcally minded reader can either go to any particular page in the 'Calendar' to verify the north/south characteristics I have posited. Or, verify the whole 165 citations, reproduce the counts and summary statistics. Indeed, it is my hope that someone will. Objective social scientific knowledge entails verification of knowledge claims.

The Terroni issue is not just an ideological or aesthetic issue. It refers to the objective historical and sociolgical reality of Italy. Not to understand the Terroni issue is not to understand Italy or southern-Italian Americana. Accordingly, it is imperative that cultural events such as, but not limited to, Italy in US 2013 be given close scrutiny.

.............................

Table Notes:

1. Page numbers refer to pages in Italy in US 2013 – Calendar of Events http://www.pubblicazionidigitali.it/ItalyinUS_2013.html [7]

2 Numbers in {} are North person, places, events etc. counts; and numbers in [ ] are South counts.
3. The counts are continuous from North count 1 on Calendar page 25 to North count 145 on Calendar page 70. Southern counts are interspaced between North.
4. Summary counts for each section (Art, Music and Theater, etc,) corresponding to those in the Summary Table above are provided at the end of each table.

ART

Page 25	The *Medici Collection* of *northern* artists.	{1}
	*Caravaggio and his Legacy* – spent some time in south as fugitive but predominately *northern* Italian artist.	{2}
Page 26	Roso Fiorentino (*Florence*)	{3}
	Piero della Francesca (*Tuscany*)	{4}
	*Arezzo* goldsmith industry.	{5}
Page 27	*Florence* at the Dawn of the Renaissance”	{6}
	Galleria degli Uffizi (*Florence*)	{7}
	Paolo Veronese (*Venice*)	{8}
Page 28	*De Fornaris Collection:*
	Morandi (*Bologna*)	{9}
	Casorati (*Piedmont*)	{10}
	Burri (*Perugia*),	{11}
	Penone (*Bologna*)	{12}
	Postoletto (*Piedmont*)	{13}
	Griffa (*Piedmont*)	{14}
	.....
	Pier Paolo Pasolini (*Bologna*)	{15}
Page 29	“Keiat: Visionaria” – Born and studied in Apulia. However, her webpage (Keziat.net) list fourteen cities in Europe, American and Asia where her work has shown – *not one South of Rome!*	{16}
	Piero della Francesca (*Tuscany*)	{17}
Page 30	Bernini’s Terracotta’s (born in Naples; father a Florentine took him to *Rome* at age eight)	{18}
	Micheangelo (*Tuscany*)	{19}
Page 31	Mattia Preti (*Calabria)*	*[1]*
	Bartolomeo & Giapeco Caporali (*Perugia*)	{20}
Page 32	Caravaggio – spent some time in south as fugitive but predominately *northern* Italian artist.	{21}
	*Italian Women in the Arts:*
	Elisabetta Gut (*Rome)*	{22}
	Lavinia Fontana (*Bologna)*	{23}
	Mirella Bentivoglio (*Milan)*	{24}
	Rosalba Carriera (*Venice)*	{25}
	Giovanna Garzoni (*Marche*),	{26}
	Elisabetta Sirani (*Bologna*)	{27}
	Artemisia Gentileschi (*Rome*)	{28}
	Barbara Longhi (*Ravenna)*	{29}
	Fede Galizia (*Milan*)	{30}
	Sofonisba Anguissola (*Lombardy*)	{31}
	Plautilla Nelli (*Florence*)	{32}
	........
	Marco Nereo Rotelli (*Venice*)	{33}
	Salvatore Emblema (*Naples*)	*[2]*
Page 33	“Italian Way” Dante Alighieri (*Florence*)	{34}
	“The Dancing Satyr” (*Sicily*)	*[3]*
	*“Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Painting”*
	Bellini (*Venice*)	{35}
	Botticelli (*Florence*)	{36}
	Domenichino (*Bologna*)	{37}
	Guardi (*Venice*)	{38}
	Rosa (*Naples*)	*[4]*
	Titian (*Veneto*)	{39}
Page 34	Giorgio De Chirico (Greek born worked in *North Italy*)	{40}
	Velazquez (Spanish born worked in *North Italy*)	{41}
	“Artistic Heritage of (*Modena)*	{42}
Page 35	Franco Azzini (born in *Calabria* went *North* age 14)	{43}
	Bice Lazzari (*Venice*)	{44}
	Sandro Chia (*Florence*)	{45}
Page 36	Caravaggio – spent some time in south as fugitive but predominately *northern* Italian artist.	{46}
Page 37	Artemisia Gentileschi (*Rome*)	{47}

Totals for ART: {47} North [4] South

Music and Theatre

Page 39	Cremonese Strings (Cremona in Lombardy)	{48}
	Giuseppe Verdi (*Parma)*	{49}
Page 40	Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi (*Florence*)	{50}
	Massimiliano Finazzer Flory (*Giulia*)	{51}
	Verdi (*Parma)*	{52}
Page 41	Roberto Cani (*Milan*)	{53}
	Ottorino Respighi (*Bologna)*	{54}
Page 42	Domenico Cimarosa (*Naples)*	*[5]*
	Giovanni Sollima (*Palermo*)	*[6]*
	Matteo Levaggi (*Torino*)	{55}
Page 43	Verdi (*Parma)*	{56}
	Daniele Belardinelli (*Marche*)	{57}
Page 44	Verdi (*Parma)*	{58}
	Puccini (*Tuscany)*	{59}
Page 45	*Cremona* City Quartet	{60}
	Roberto Abbado (*Milan*)	{61}
	Emanuele Arciuli (*Lecce)*	{62}
	Nicola Campogranade (*Turin*)	{63}
	Gioachino Rossini (*Marche*)	{64}
Page 46	Franceso Casorati (*Turin*)	{65}
	Emanuele Arciuli (*Apulia*)	{66}
	Nicola Campogrand (*Turin*)	{67}
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{68}
	Francesca Parvizyar (*Milano* – twitter)	{69}
Page 47	*Cremona* Strings	{70}
	Puccini (*Tuscany)*	{71}
	Maurizio Pollini (*Milan*)	{72}
Page 48	Nicola Campogrande (*Turin*)	{73}
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{74}
Page 49	*Cremona* Strings	{75}
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{76}
	Fabio Luisi (*Genoa*)	{77}
Page 50	Pavarotti (Modena)	{78}
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{79}
Page 51	Alessandro Scarlatti (*Palermo*)	*[8]*
	Puccini (*Tuscany)*	{80}
	*Spoleto* Festival	{81}
Page 52	Bollani (*Milan*)	{82}
	Rava (*Trieste*)	{83}
	Fresu (*Sardinia*)	*[8]*
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{84}
Page 53	Piccolo Teatro di *Milano*	{85}
	Eduardo De Filippo (*Naples*)	*[9]*
	Toni Sevillo (*Naples*)	*[10]*
Page 54	Pino Daniele (*Naples*)	*[11]*
	Massimo Gallotta (*Salerno*)	*[12]*
Page 55	Teatro San Carlo di *Napoli*	*[13]*
	Mauro Pagani (*Lombardy*)	{86}
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{87}
Page 56	Teatro Regio of *Parma*	{88}
	Teatro alla Scala Academy (*Milan*)	{89}
	Rossini (*Marche*)	{90}
	Puccini (*Tuscany*)	{91}
	Verdi (*Parma*)	{92}
	Bracco Foundation (*Milan*)	{93}
	Mauro Bigonzetti (*Rome*)	{94}

Totals for Music and Theater: {47} North [9] South

Cinema and Photography

Page 58	Pasolini (*Bologna*)	{95}
	Istituto Luce Cinecitta (*Rome*)	{96}
	Caravaggio (*Milan*)	{97}
	Longoni (*Milano*)	{98}
	Nastasi (*Milano*)	{99}
	Hemingway in *Veneto*	{100}
Page 59	Istituto *Capri* nel Mondo	*[14]*
	*Philips Collection:*
	Gabriele Basilico (*Milano*)	{101}
	Gianni Berengo Gardin (*Genoa*)	{102}
	Mario Cresci (*Genoa*)	{103}
	Renato D’Agostin (*Venice*)	{104}
	Andrea Galvani (*Verona*)	{105}
	Luigi Ghirri (*Emilia-Romagna*)	{106}
	Mimmo Jodice (*Naples*)	*[15]*
	Nino Migliori (*Bologna*)	{107}
	Francesco Nonino (*Friuli-Veneziani*)	{108}
	Bianca Sforni (*Milan*)	{109}
	Franco Vaccari (*Modena*)	{110}
	Paolo Ventura (*Milan*)	{111}
Page 60	Dante Alighieri (*Florence*)	{112}
	Lamberto Lambertini (*Naples*)	*[16]*
Page 61	Pasolini (*Bologna*)	{113}
	*New Italian Cinema:*
	Giuseppe Capotondi (*Milan*)	{114}
	Francesca Comencini (*Rome*)	{115}
	Emanuele Crialese (*Rome*)	{116}
	Leonardo di Costanzo (*Naples*)	*[17]*
	Gianni di Gregorio (*Rome*)	{117}
	Matteo Garrone (*Rome*)	{118}
	Luca Guadagnino (*Sicily*)	*[18]*
	Mario Martone (*Naples*)	*[19]*
	Andrea Molaioli (Rome)	{119}
	Susanna Nicchiarelli (*Rome*)	{120}
	Ferzan Ozpetek (*Rome*)	{121}
	Silvio Soldini (*Milan*)	{122}
	Roberta Torre (*Milan*)	{123}
	Marco Tullio Giordana (*Milan*)	{124}
Page 62	Cinecitta Luce (*Rome*)	{125}
	Marco Bellocchio (*Emilia-Romagna*)	{126}

Totals for Cinema and Photography: {32} North [6] South

Italian Language and Literature

Page 64	Pasolini (*Bologna*)	{127}
	Danta Ferretti (*Marche*)	{128}
	*Poetry on a Bus:*
	Montale (*Genoa*)	{129}
	Pavase (*Piedmont*)	{130}
	Ungaretti (*Tuscany*)	{131}
Page 65	Italian Modernism (*Milan, Turin, Genoa*)	{132}
	Machiavelli (*Florence*)	{133}
Page 66	Dacia Maraini (*Tuscany*)	{134}
	AISLLI “maternal speech Dante” (*Tuscany)*	{135}
	Clara Sereni (*Rome*)	{136}
Page 67	Machiavelli (*Florence*)	{137}
Page 68	Dante Alighieri (*Florence*)	{138}
	Marco Cappelli (*Rome*)	{139}
	Marco Nereo Rotelli (*Venice*)	{140}
Page 69	Boccaccio (*Tuscany*)	{141}
	Gaetano Salvemini (*Apulia*)	*[20]*
	Machiavelli (*Florence*)	{142}
Page 70	Italo Calvino (*Liguria)*	{143}
	Primo Levi (*Turin*)	{144}
	Leopardi (*Marche*)	{145}

Totals for Italian Language and Literature: {19} North [1] South

Addendum

A Delicious Irony

At the above mentioned Washington press conference inaugurating 2013 – The Year of Italian Culture in the United States, it was noted that:

“This project, organized under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, aims at showcasing Italian creativity and culture both in our artistic heritage...[and] cultural foundations spanning the Classical age and the Renaissance up to present times.”

“Italy”, in this context, as has been shown above, is in fact ‘northern Italy. How ironic: the President of Italy whose name is “Napolitano”, was born in Naples and graduate of University of Naples Federico II (founded in 1224 ) should play so prominent a role in promoting northern Italian culture at the expense of the South.

However, the role of southern intellectuals and other prominent personage in foisting northern cultural hegemony on the South since the early nineteenth century has been obvious and discussed extensively by scholars such as Gramsci and many others. President Napolitano follows that, if I may say so with due respect for his office, sad tradition.