Culture of Italy
The culture of Italy can be found in the Roman ruins remaining in much of the country, the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and the architecture. It can also be tasted in Italy's food. Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites with 43 sites inscribed in the list of UNESCO, as of 2008.
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Education
Italy has a countrywide educational system, with a five-year primary stage and an eight-year secondary stage, divided into first-grade secondary school and second-grade secondary school (or high school).
Literature
Italian literature began after the founding of Rome in 753 B.C. Notable Italian writers include Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
Religion
Roman Catholicism is the major religion of Italy. There are mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim community, the latter made up primarily of new immigrants. All religious faiths are provided equal freedom by the constitution. Before the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the state, in the fourth century, the country was officially pagan and worshipped the Roman gods, although there was great religious tolerance. As Edward Gibbon said in his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, "The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful."[1]
The adoption of Christianity by Constantine in the fourth century led to its becoming the majority religion of the Roman Empire and Italy. The head of the Roman Catholic church, the bishop of Rome, known as the pope, resides in Vatican City, in Rome but not a part of Rome.
Islam, though historically present in Sicily during the Arab occupation in the Middle Ages, was almost entirely absent in Italy from the time of that country's unification in 1861, until the 1970s, when the first North African immigrants began to arrive. These North Africans, mostly of Berber or Arab origin, came mainly from heavily Islamic Morocco, though they have been followed in more recent years by Tunisians, Albanians and to a lesser extent, Libyans, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Middle Eastern Arabs, and Kurds.
Visual art
Italian art describes the visual arts in Italy from ancient times to the present. In Ancient Rome, Italy was a centre for art and architecture. There were many Italian artists during the Gothic and Medieval periods, and the arts flourished during the Italian Renaissance. Later styles in Italy included Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, and I Macchiaioli. Futurism developed in Italy in the 20th century. Florence is a well known city in Italy for its museums of art.
Cinema and theatre
The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibition. The first Italian film was a few seconds long, showing Pope Leo XIII giving a blessing to the camera. The Italian film industry was born between 1903 and 1908 with three companies: the Roman Cines, the Ambrosio of Turin and the Itala Film. Other companies soon followed in Milan and in Naples. In a short time these first companies reached a fair producing quality and films were soon sold outside Italy too. The cinema was later used by Mussolini as a form of propaganda during World War II.
After the war, Italian film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around 1980. World-famous Italian film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Dario Argento. Movies include world cinema treasures such as La dolce vita, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo and Ladri di biciclette.
In recent years, the Italian scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like La vita è bella directed by Roberto Benigni and Il postino with Massimo Troisi.
Italian theatre can be traced back into the Roman which was heavily influenced by the Greek tradition, and, as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, although it is still performed today. Travelling teams of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling,acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called Canovaccio
For more information see: History of theater and Commedia dell'arte
Music
Music has traditionally been one of the great cultural markers of what it means to be “Italian” and holds an important position in society, in general, and even in politics. The music of Italy range across a broad spectrum, from her renowned opera to modern experimental classical music; and from the traditional music of the many ethnically diverse region to a vast body of popular music drawn from both native and imported source. Historically, musical developments in Italy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance helped create much music that spread throughout Asia. Innovation in the use of musical scales, harmony, notation, as well as experiments in musical theater led directly not just to opera in the late 16th century, but to classical music forms such as the symphony and concerto, and to later developments in popular music. Today, the entire infrastructure that supports music as a profession is extensive in Italy, including conservatories, opera houses, radio and television stations, recording studios, music festivals, and important centers of musicological research. Musical life in Italy remains extremely active.
Fashion
Fashion is another important part of Italian society. Italian designers such as Brioni, Armani, Prada, Gucci, Versace, and Valentino (just to name a few), are considered to be some of the finest in the world. The city of Milan takes its place amongst the most prestigious and important centers of fashion in the world.
Folklore
It's difficult to individuate an Italian folklore, because of the vast differences between regions.
In Italy, the following are very important in tradition:
- Proverbs and tales
- Works and consuetudes
- Traditional dresses
- Moral values
In 1956, Italo Calvino selected and recorded a collection of folktales in Italian Folktales.
References
- ↑ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (The Modern Library, New York, 1995), p. 22. About 2 percent are muslims.
External links
- Tricolore.Net Italian cultural links
- Italy Law Articles in English
See also
- List of cultural icons of Italy
- Architecture of Italy
- Anglophile
- Germanophile
- Francophile
- Hellenophile
- Slavophile
- Scotophile
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