The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there. – L.P. Hartley, The Go-Betweens
Accurate. And sometimes a foreign country wants to be the past. Somewhere between a faded photo of Benito Mussolini’s inverted corpse and an ill-received performance by the Stormtroopers of Death at the Teatro alla Scala lies this inexplicable decision to return Italy to its nationalistic roots.
Italians who use English and other foreign words in official communications could face fines of up to €100,000 ($108,705) under new legislation introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.
Fabio Rampelli, a member of the lower chamber of deputies, introduced the legislation, which is supported by the prime minister.
While the legislation encompasses all foreign languages, it is particularly geared at “Anglomania” or use of English words, which the draft states “demeans and mortifies” the Italian language, adding that it is even worse because the UK is no longer part of the EU.
“Demeans.” “Mortifies.” Holy hell. This sounds like those border dwellers who stubbornly insist everyone should speak American despite being able to track their roots back to non-English speaking countries like Norway, Germany, and probably Lichtenstein.
It’s apparently demeaning for Italian citizens (and especially their elected reps) to casually drop E-bombs during conversation. But of course that makes sense to these legislators, who have formed a far right party far more concerned with excising anything not strictly Italian than solving actual problems, all while pretending to be the representative voice of millions of apparently disenfranchised Italians. Basically, it’s the Republican party but with better fish options during fundraising banquets.
The “Brothers of Italy” have received plenty of labels from political opponents, onlookers, journalists, and outside observers. They’re the ones you expect: “nationalist,” “neo-fascist,” “anti-immigrant,” “nativist.” And now they’re making laws. Extremely stupid laws.
The first article of the legislation guarantees that even in offices that deal with non Italian-speaking foreigners, Italian must be the primary language used.
Article 2 would make Italian “mandatory for the promotion and use of public goods and services in the national territory.” Not doing so could garner fines between €5,000 ($5,435) and €100,000 ($108,705).
The law would turn over language enforcement to the Culture Ministry, which would be able to levy fines to anyone using another language or, as CNN points out, incorrectly pronouncing Italian words. Anyone running for office would have to prove their Italian language bona fides [is Latin still ok?] before being allowed to participate in this ongoing backslide into national socialism.
Meanwhile, the same ruling party has introduced another bill targeting synthetically produced food under the theory that moving towards more sustainable food supplies presents a threat to the “nation’s heritage.”
I assume some readers will see this and find nothing wrong with it. Why not preserve native languages and cultures? Even if there’s a downside (WWII), there’s also an upside, as is stated in this classic Italian adage:
Sicuramente questo farà funzionare i treni in orario.
Maybe?
I would like to say this legislation is going nowhere but I also made it clear in the years 1974-2016 that there was no way Donald Trump could win a presidential election. Nothing is beyond the realm of imagination at this point. A bunch of dipshits playing to an even dipshittier base are in power. All bets are off. Stupid people will be harming innocent people just to score internet points with 8chan regulars. That’s the way the world operates now. Enjoy your illegal English while you can, Italians.
