Representation of Italy by english guidebooks

The original old city remains almost completely ‘unimproved’, perched at the top of its two picks”.

(IG: 291)

This attitude exploits a well known imagery and proposes a quite partial representation of

Italy through the use of the words chosen, which count even on tourists’ knowledge,

attitudes and beliefs on this country. The romantic, ancient and the traditional sides of the

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nation and its representations still shape the mental models of descriptions (of the

authors)and reception (of tourists). To summarize, tourists are not involved in a quest of the

authentic modern Italy and for this reason their journey towards authenticity does not create

an effective intercultural encounter (Mc Gregor, 2000: 46).

This process of differentiation has the consequence to strenghten stereotypical images and

prejudices and even more, to spread ideologically biased representations about italian

culture and people.

3. The use of native vocabulary

Another aspect to deal with is the translation of the foreign culture into the target language:

guidebooks provide them with a framework for interpreting their travelling experiences and

for managing the contact with customs and habits of local people. In particular, since a

particular lexis always expresses the cultural aspects of a society, it is quite obvious that

guidebooks prefer to employ native words to construct and transmit their image of the

destination culture. In this case the use of native words in tourist texts changes according

to different communication strategies. Dann argues that (1996: 183) the most frequent

application of this strategy is in gastronomy, a domain that is closely linked to the culture of

a destination and obviously comes with its own language. According to Calvi,(2000:60) the

multicultural dimension of the touristic discourse is responsible for the significant amount

of “traditional terms” used despite the existence of their international equivalents. These

cultural words transmitted in tourist texts are selected by guidebook authors, and they are

chosen to emphasize certain aspects and convey certain meanings. The use of Italian

words is really interesting in a cross-cultural perspective, since through that it’s possible to

define and portray the Italian character as perceived by guidebook authors; moreover this

may have some effects on readers’ expectations and actual perceptions of the Italian culture

(Vestito, 2006: 75). It is common that very specific socio-cultural aspects emerge in

guidebooks as being associated to Italy and Italians and, despite the general positive

dimension of tourist discourse, they often go together with negative comments. It is like an

ideological discourse shared by guidebook authors and their readers with the aim to

represent the relation between themselves and the “others” essentially in terms of us versus

them, in which “we” are associated with positive properties and they are associated with bad

properties, as claims van Dijk (1995: 18).

As regards the positive aspects, Dann (1996: 184) talks about an “occasional poetic

treatment” of language in tourist texts, referring to the use of words which are quite

fascinating but not familiar to readers. To make an example, in the field of gastronomy, if

the author uses the name of a dish with no translation or explanation, it means that he

counts on the linguistic abilities and cultural knowledge of the reader; he establishes a

relation between equals and gives the reader the status of ‘traveller’ (Dann, 1996: 183).

All guidebooks present a great amount of Italian words belonging to this domain, and show

various references to Italian food as one of the most peculiar representations of the

country. What is always underlined is the strong link between food and culture in Italy as a

distinguishing aspect of this culture. The worldwide fame of the Italian cuisine is here

exploited and the gastronomic experience is now as an opportunity to live and experience

something which is authentic and typical: “ To eat and drink in Italy is to be thrust into the heart

of Italian life”. (LP:67). 5

But there are tourists who are maybe familiar with Italian food, so the guidebook authors

tempt people to go to those places of culinary origin, as Dann(1996: 237) explains, to be

able to discover and experience the real sensations for themselves. Thanks to the native

words, namely gastrolingo (Dann,1996: 235), the sensation is that of something unknown

and exotic: “What comes as a surprise to many visitors is the tremendous regional diversity at the

table; often next to nothing on the menu looks familiar, once dishes are disguised by their local or

dialect name”. (CG: 59)

Generally speaking, the references to food found in guidebooks aim to motivate readers to

experience the Italian cuisine in situ, since it is highly possible that they have already had

some contacts with it at home. Since Italy is a famous nation for its good cuisine, comments

are always positive and the most common strategy adopted is the use of the original names

of the Italian dishes followed by an indication of the main ingredient as in “risotto alla

Milanese, seasoned with saffron” (IG: 100)

On the other hand, when native words are used as an instrument to other purposes, their use

is involved in the mental models about Italian culture shared by guidebook authors and their

readers/tourists, as Vestito remarks (2006: 87). For example, speaking about social culture,

crime and corruption are always mentioned when the topic is politics. Another important

feature of Italian politics and national identity as perceived by the English guidebooks is the

‘North-South divide. On the one hand, the industrialized and fashionable north and, on the

other, the agrarian and traditional south. Going south, everything become more ‘exotic’ and

Naples, being the “true metropolis of the Mezzogiorno” (LP: 587) creates a connection

between the Italian South and the cultures of the Mediterranean: “ … Naples has at least as

much in common with Casablanca in Marocco or Egypt’s Alexandria on the other side of the

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Mediterranean as with fellow European ports such as Genoa, Marseilles or Barcellona”. (LP: 588)

Guidebooks try to use the Italian word as a tourist “marker” of the Italian South: “ The Italian

South - the Mezzogiorno (‘Noonday’) - is one of the extremities of Europe, poised in a calm sea

These peripheral areas are presented as

between the Balkans and the Sahara”. (CG: 842)

opposed to the centre, the well-known Italian sights and attractions, and their

representations are influenced by specific ideologies which convey particular cultural

meanings. The representations of the island of Sicily for example is also pervaded of

comparisons that highlight their geographical and cultural distance from the “proper”

country. Guidebooks normally present these regions as ‘another world’ from mainland Italy

and as a consequence, as not part of Europe: Trapani] “… it is easy to be charmed by the laid-

back Moorish atmosphere of what is, essentially, a large Arab fishing village”. (LP: 763)

Guidebook authors put great emphasis in the definition of ‘different’ imageries linked to

areas of Italy different from what is normally perceived as the dominant one. These different

imageries are taken from other destinations and places, which influenced Italy during its

long history, and exploit a diffuse and vague sense of exotic.

Very interesting considerations can be done as regards the treatment of leisure and customs:

when one of these activities is indicated, the Italian words which are used are always

followed by a comment about the Italian lifestyle: “The national love affair with il calcio

encapsulates many aspect of Italian life. It’s all about passion, fashion (check out the team strip or

The word calcio is not

the centre forward’s latest tattoo) and above all controversy”. (LP: 44)

translated so that it becomes a marker (MacCannell,1989:109-40), that is, a symbol which

provides information about a specific signified, in this case of what is perceived as

‘typically’ or ‘stereotypically’ Italian. This is not the only example, since Italian habits too

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take another significance and the function of the Italian words in this domain is mainly

expressive as it allows the authors to transmit their perception of what is ‘typical’ of Italian

society: “ The essence of Italian sociability is the passeggiata, the evening parade or dating ritual,

with pauses for preening, chatting, flirting and gossiping.”(IG: 77). “Nothing is ever quite as it

seems here, and part of the reason for this is the obsession with making a good impression – ‘fare

una bella figura’ – a singular Italian trait. You notice it almost immediately: not only are many

Italians immaculate fashion victims […], but they always seem to be modelling their spiffy threads

The concept of

– posing, gesturing, playing to an audience when they have one.” (CG: 42) .

“bella figura” is associated mainly to aspects such as superficiality and conformity and is

always presented as a general truth that applies to the whole of Italian society. The climax of

this emphasis is the explicit comment and value judgment about Italians in general: “nation

for which furbizia (cunning) is a much-vaunted quality. To put one over on somebody marks you as

a winner and this, to an Italian, isimportant. The maintaining of la bella figura (face) lies at the

What we perceive is that italians’ behaviour is not

heart of much social behaviour.” (LP: 41) .

so spontaneous but intentionally aimed at having success in society and that ‘maintaining

the face’ is necessary even at the expenses of others. The family is another target of

judgement and even irony, above all concerning the role of the mother. By using of the word

mamma without any translation, guidebooks authors transmit a precise evaluation : “While

the family remains the bedrock of traditional Italian society, mammismo, the cult of the mother, is

In particular, Italian men are the chosen target of the most ironic

its cornerstone.” (IG: 85)

and sharp statements regarding this obsession with the mother: “Italian men actually constitute

an esercito di mammoni (army of mummy’s boy)…And even after the big move, one in three

continue to see la mamma every day. “(LP: 42)

What emerges is that, except the domains in which native words represent practical

information (i.g. gastronomy) about widely known and appreciated aspects of Italian

culture, any other use of an Italian word or expression is aimed at showing and commenting

aspects of the Italian society and attitudes of its members. These aspects are usually

presented in strong opposition towards the tourists’ culture, thus confirming that discourse