Monday, January 08, 2007

European Chauvinism Disadvantages Italian Cultural Giants

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Carlo Goldoni, a playwright and poet, who died in 1793, was one of the most influential figures in Italian literary history.

Many Italians would argue that Goldoni, was a crucial figure in European literature too. After all, he brought together many of the key elements of modern theatrical comedy. Even though he moved to Paris for the latter part of his highly successful writing career, Goldoni's name is rarely cited, even in France, as a European giant.

The authors cite European chauvinism as the reason, and go on to cite some impressive evidence.

Interestingly.the Italians, against their own cause, argued convincingly that the work of Leonardo da Vinci is such an international treasure that he is now a universal, rather than an Italian, figure. 'Leonardo surpasses borders,'.

Italians also showed less chauvinism, and more universality in their reverence of  Spanish artists such as Picasso and Goya. In the field of the written word, Italians saw the Nobel prize-winning contemporary Portuguese writer Jose Saramago as a sure-fire international literary icon.

'The all-time favourites should be those who really made an impact - who thought out of the box, but their innovations came here to stay,' said the Italians . 'Take Saramago, he is so unique his influence is going to last for centuries.

' No one asked in Britain had heard of him.

This Chauvinism  is the reason that in English centric USA, minor English cultural figures are better known than major Italian/European giants. :(

 

Goldoni who? The Italian Moliere Shows Art Doesn't Translate

The Observer
The Guardian Limited
Vanessa Thorpe and Claudia Keller
Sunday January 7, 2007

Two hundred years ago in Venice, Margherita Goldoni gave birth to a son. It is an event that does not mean much to most Britons, Germans or Spaniards, but an Observer survey suggests this is evidence of the kind of cultural chauvinism that divides European neighbours as distinctly as language.

In Italy the bicentenary celebration of Carlo Goldoni's birth gets into full swing this week, with a series of festivals and theatrical seasons scheduled throughout 2007. Goldoni, a playwright and poet, was one of the most influential figures in Italian literary history.

Many Italians would argue that Goldoni, who died in 1793, was a crucial figure in European literature too. After all, he brought together many of the key elements of modern theatrical comedy. Yet, although he moved to Paris for the latter part of his highly successful writing career, and although his literary hero was the French playwright Moliere, Goldoni's name is rarely cited, even in France, as a European giant.

It seems that in France, as in Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy, any list of the greatest figures in art, literature and music is inevitably dominated by home-grown stars. In Britain, for example, we assume the paintings of JMW Turner will have as much significance in other Western countries as they do here. In fact, as our survey shows, the name of Turner frequently draws a blank in Berlin, Madrid and Rome.

'He is really known in Germany only because of the annual Turner Prize,' speculated one German cultural commentator based in Berlin. An equivalent German figure would be an artist such as Lukas Cranach the Elder, a painter acknowledged in his homeland as a leading light in the story of European art and yet little known in Britain.

Our survey sampled the cultural perspectives of our closest European neighbours, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, by speaking to a series of cultural commentators and 30 'arts consumers', who visit galleries, libraries, concerts in major cities in each country. The findings confirm that national prejudice is a powerful influence in our creative preferences. Picasso and Velasquez were among the only artists to have a truly international profile, and Mozart and Beethoven alone registered as European musical icons.

Shakespeare still gets a name check across most of Europe, but in France Victor Hugo is talked of as a figure of equal international significance. In Germany, Johann Wolfgang Goethe is revered and it is mistakenly believed that the titles of his works (Faust and Theory of Colours) would be recognised in an average English classroom.

The Germans have at least recognised this issue of cultural disconnect, and their publishing industry is attempting to redress the balance. For the equivalent of #4 you can now buy Shakespeare for Dummies. The theory is that if you know the contents of the most important plays, can locate Stratford-upon-Avon on a map and know where the major Shakespeare festivals take place, you will stand out as an intellectual at a Berlin dinner party.

The biggest German news magazine, Focus, recently entertained readers with 12 supplements on the 'classics of world literature', each giving a summary of a major work along with biographical notes on the author. Subjects included Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks, Gunter Grass's The Tin Drum, Homer's Odyssey, The Trial by Franz Kafka and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Other neighbouring countries are more content in their cultural chauvinism. The Italians in our survey argued convincingly that the work of Leonardo da Vinci is such an international treasure that he is now a universal, rather than an Italian, figure. 'Leonardo surpasses borders,' said Alessandro Speciale, 26, a freelance broadcaster and writer.

Although Italians revere Spanish artists such as Picasso and Goya, they gave little or no weight to northern European stars Rembrandt, Vermeer or Constable. In the field of the written word, Italians saw the Nobel prize-winning contemporary Portuguese writer Jose Saramago as a sure-fire international literary icon. 'The all-time favourites are those who really made an impact - who thought out of the box, but their innovations came here to stay,' said one Italian. 'Take Saramago, he is so unique his influence is going to last for centuries.' No one asked in Britain had heard of him.

 

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