The Department of French & Italian
Student-Faculty Forum Series
presents a lecture by

Andrea Zanzotto

Giovanni Spani IDIOMA: Dialect coming from where there is no writing Friday, October 24, 2003 2:30 pm – Ballantine Hall 138

Andrea Zanzotto (b. Pieve di Soligo, 1921) is widely recognized as one of Europe’s greatest living poets. He has published the following books of poetry : Dietro il paesaggio (1952); Elegia ed altri versi (1954); Vocativo (1957); IX Egloghe (1962); La Beltà (1968); Gli Sguardi i Fatti e Senhal (1969); Pasque (1973); Filò (1976); Il Galateo in Bosco (1978); Fosfeni (1983); Idioma (1986); Meteo (1996) and Sovrimpressioni (2001).

Dialect is a minimal part in Andrea Zanzotto’s work, yet it is an important element, if only for the questions raised by the poet’s attitude toward his local idiom. Born and raised in it, he still turns to it daily, since most of the time he resides in Pieve di Soligo. The language that for centuries has guaranteed a sense of cohesion and duration seems almost to impose itself, rising from the unconscious.  In this perspective the dialect of Idioma (1986) is inserted in a fundamental discourse based on language, identity, and an impossible correspondence between language and external objects.  While the poet seems on one hand to suggest that it is possible to give a sense to existence by placing oneself in a mother-son relationship with the world, he simultaneously denies the possibility of creating it, using dialect only to speak of the past, of something that no longer exists.

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Giovanni Spani is a PhD student in the Department of French and Italian.

The lecture will be given in Italian, to be followed by discussion and refreshments.  If you have a disability and need assistance, arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs; please call 855-5458.