Since 2001, Italian organizations around the world have dedicated the third week of October as a time to celebrate the “Week of the Italian Language in the World.” Each year, events are organized around particular theme. This year’s theme was “Italian and the Book: The World Between the Lines,” a celebration of the connection between the Italian language and literature.
In Vancouver, celebrations featured a round table discussion/panel on the theme of Italians writing in diaspora and the impact of Italian transcultural writing. In Toronto, the focus was on “evolution of typography” and “…the historical significance of type in shaping the modern book…”.
Meanwhile, here at Carleton, members of our Italian teaching staff chose to focus their attention on the widely known and hugely influential “Adventures of Pinocchio,” a story originally written by Italian author Carlo Collodi in 1883.
In an evening featuring speeches, performance, and song, Carleton students and their instructors celebrated the outsize influence of the Pinocchio story on popular culture worldwide.
Perhaps most memorable was a skit by students in Claudia Rocca’s second year Italian class; the scene in the story where Pinocchio (performed by Kristian) is led into a life of debauchery by the malign influences of Gideon the cat (performed by Sylken) and Honest John, the fox (performed by Carmen).
The event was also attended by Ms. Rebecca Scano, Head of Cultural Affairs at the Italian Embassy in Ottawa, who spoke passionately about the importance of Italian writers’ and about the vibrant contribution they have made to world literature for hundreds of years. She also awarded book prizes to the performers.
Pizza followed the performance, and the event stretched into the evening with student groups sitting around chatting about why they were learning Italian, where they hoped to go with it, and aspects of the language more generally.
