#amara lakhous

[codenamebooks]

My 2022 Book Ranking

For about three years now, I rank the books that I read throughout the year as I read them. For the most part, it's based on general vibes and a quick comparison in my head. There's not much to it: no official system with specific details that I look for. Star ratings have a bit to do with it, but if I didn't give it a high rating, it's not going to be high up in the ranking anyway. Here are my 2022 rankings, from lowest to highest, out of the 18 books I read with one liner explanations (a little late, I know):

18. The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal | Goodreads | 1.5 stars

I read this for class, didn't finish it, but didn't like the pacing of it anyway.

17. Clash of Civilization Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous | Goodreads | 2.5 stars

Also read this for class, but did finish and didn't hate it because it was more entertaining than I expected.

16. Stand-Off (Winger #2) by Andrew Smith | Goodreads | 3 stars

This is a great book for teenage boys who need t unlearn toxic masculinity early.

15. City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare | Goodreads | 4 star

The last book in the series and it actually wrapped up the circumstances very well.

14. Passing by Nella Larsen | Goodreads | 3 stars

I read this for class and it was such an interesting concept, but it wasn't always super engaging.

13. Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire | Goodreads | 3 stars

Star rating mostly because of how long I took to read it, but Jack is one of my favorite characters ever.

12. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella | Goodreads | 3.5 stars

A really interesting story about mental health, heavy but constantly remaining lighthearted and funny.

11. Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone #1) by Leigh Bardugo | Goodreads | 3.8 stars

I feel like I've heard a lot of negative reviews about this book/series but I enjoyed this as an introduction to the world.

10. Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire | Goodreads | 4 stars

This one was extremely fun and expanded the world of this series so much more.

9. We'll Always Have Summer (Summer #3) by Jenny Han | Goodreads | 3.75 stars

My least favorite of the trilogy but I read it all in one setting so it was definitely an interesting plot... Albeit a little absurd.

8. The City We Became (Great Cities #1) by N. K. Jemisen | Goodreads | 3.75 stars

Takes a lot of concentration to understand what's going on, but an amazing and intricate concept.

7. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry | Goodreads | 4.5 stars

My first proper romance (in a long time) and it was so funny although I didn't love Poppy as a main character (but she had great growth)

6. The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1) by Jenny Han (reread) | Goodreads | 4.5 stars

Reread this to finally finish the trilogy and it was so much fun to relive all of the emotions of this rollercoaster love triangle.

5. It's Not Summer Without You (Summer #2) by Jenny Han | Goodreads | 5 stars

This second book literally had me screaming, crying, gasping, angry, happy, little everything every other second.

4. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward | Goodreads | 5 stars

Read this for class and it is by far the best book I've read for academic purposes.

3. Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas | Goodreads | 5 stars

This book made me scared to go on with the series but also so desperate to get to it immediately.

2. The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas | Goodreads | 5 stars

Had a friend say this was her favorite in the entire series and I completely see why, the stories were so intriguing.

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas | Goodreads | 5 stars

Whew, did this book constantly have me in shambles almost entirely because of Dorian.

[arablit]

Lit & Found: 'The Gifts of Movement,' a Talk with Saïd Khatibi and Amara Lakhous

In “The Gifts of Movement: Transformative Migrations in the Digital Age,” Algerian novelists Said Khatibi and Amara Lakhous talk with scholar-translator Alex Elinson about writing and migration, in which Lakhous says: “I think the real migration for artists is the migration of languages.” You can watch on YouTube:

[beyondmistland]

Book Review (6/14/24)

Dark Reflections: A Historical Horror & Dark Folklore Anthology by Annwn Press (4/5)

The Deep by Anna Geehreng (3.5/5) Nautical horror is certainly an interesting choice for the opening short story.

The Muse of Cyrus Thatch by Jack Cregan (5/5) My favorite by far. The language, the creep factor, all of it is just perfect.

The Undead Life of Winnie Eventide by Anne Forrest (3/5) The ending elevates what I feel is otherwise a mediocre story.

Worse than Winter by Leif Ericsson (4.5/5) Arthurian horror is always a pleasant surprise, especially when it’s as well-written as this particular short story.

Frostbite by Moira Espinosa (3.5/5) Would make for a great short film. Flows well too. Could have used some more exposition though.

Of a Black and Fearful Night by Alastair Raper (5/5) Superb imagery.

Prong by H.A. Rollison (4/5) Good creepypasta.

All in all, an eclectic array of well-written horror.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/191211061X

Currently reading: Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous (I was originally going to read Shawn Speakman's The King-Killing Queen next but decided to read something shorter due to how hectic my schedule currently is.)

Next: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

[books-in-translation]

Translation is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other. Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler: I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images, and metaphors.

  Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio    

[swartzmark]

Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

[letteratitudine]

La XXXI edizione del Premio Racalmare - Leonardo Sciascia Città di Grotte ha il suo vincitore:

“Io sono Gesù” di Giosue' Calaciura edito da Sellerio

La Giuria Popolare e la Giuria Tecnica, presieduta da Salvatore Ferlita, si sono espresse sabato 30 ottobre 2021.

Premio alla carriera a Roberto Andò

Il Premio che per anni fu sotto la guida di Leonardo Sciascia, di Vincenzo Consolo dopo, e che vide premiati nel tempo scrittori del calibro di Gesualdo Bufalino, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Andrea Camilleri, Vincenzo Rabito, Amara Lakhous, Luisa Adorno...si fregia oggi di un nuovo prezioso nome.

[bravagente]

hello dear mod, thank you for everything you do. i have a question i apologise if it's heavier than the tone on this blog. recently a popular italian blogger said that race in italy is racist&was a product of il ventennio. i am french&i understand that we in europe don't like to say the word 'race', but i just want to understand how the construct of racism in italy, especially with all the far right/macerata from an italian persepective. I did read amara lakhous. thanks for everything you do!

Hi! Sorry for the late answer, it’s just such a complex matter to talk about and I’m not entirely sure I have the right perspective to handle it properly both as a white woman and as someone who lives in a city where that’s still relatively not diverse. Plus I study languages so I’m not really in the area - I basically really wanted to do right by this and I hope I will.

Disclaimer: it is true that in Italy the very concept of race, at least the way we know and use it in English is racist and a product of the ventennio. Whichever its etimology and original denotation, the word race (razza) has been very clearly connotated since Fascism: if you say men have razze, you’re implying some men have a pure, superior razza and some don’t. Nowadays in Italian dogs and horses have razze, not people. So, usually, if someone uses ‘race’ in italian as opposed to, say, ethnicity (etnia, colore), you’ll be quite sure they’re racist. It’s not that just because people don’t use the word they can’t be racist, but it does say something about how hard it is for us to cope with the American concept of race and the discourse that follows. The paradox is Americans are rightly very sensitive and careful about what they call race, when from our pov they’re just seeing it all from an inherently racist perspective: there are whites and then there are “people of colour”, all of them. Basically, a white race and then all those other races. Again, all of them. We can’t quite wrap our head around it, especially since we don’t really have a concept of, say, “brown” people. Come over in August, we’ll all be brown. We like a tan. It’s just beyond us.

Moving on to racism. It is possibly the most divisive thing in Italy right now and any conversation about it will escalate quickly because a) no one ever admits to being racist b) not everyone necessarily knows they are, if they are. Like everywhere else, it’s not always glaring. It’s not always a “racist slurs” kind of thing. There are subtle forms of it even here and not just in the alt right: I believe many liberals are actually as racist as one gets, they just don’t show because they never deal with people of colour in the first place. I once interviewed an otherwise pretty decent man who told me immigrants today don’t actually come here willing to work and therefore should be sent back home, another one praised a city he visited because he saw no blacks selling stuff there. I think it speaks volumes on how complex this thing is getting: you can deal with assholes who are 100% assholes. You can ignore them and decide they’re not worth your time and energy. But when they’re half-decent it’s just disheartening and makes you wonder where we’re going. Another reason conversations about racism often won’t end well is they slip into politics and fascism is far from over. Even though more-or-less openly fascist parties didn’t do well at the latest elections, the winners (League and the Five Stars) are firmly anti-immigration, making it about law and order as any Trump of the world would.

Having said this, race as we discussed it might be rooted in Fascism, but is the same true for racism? It is and it isn’t. There’s evidence that sub-saharian Africans were of always discriminated against. We had our own slave markets we don’t learn much of in schools, and while it’d buy and sell people of any race black Africans were definitely amongst them. There’s recently been a lot of discourse about how (in)accurate Still Star-Crossed was, with someone arguing that Alessandro de’ Medici was just an example of a class of black nobles. I’m afraid that’s not true. If I’m referencing to this particular period of time it’s because Renaissance is a personal interest of mine: The Ugly Renaissance will offer information about racism against dark-skinned Africans in 15th-16th century Italy. While light skinned Africans were considered as white as any European, sub-Saharans were thought to be strong and valuable workers, but also “uncivilized simpletons who could never hope to occupy a position of parity with the white majority”. That was a long time ago, sure, but it was bound to remain embedded in people’s mindset. And it did in ways we’d think were behind us by now.

Now, subtle forms of racism aside, there are many racists of the in-your-face, insulting type, more and worse than I ever thought possible growing up. They’ve actually probably always been there, it’s just now they have the Internet so they feel somehow validated and it’s made them unashamed to be openly hateful and ignorant with the support of the right.

However I have to stress that there many, many many more, non-racists. When fascists parade in our streets, anti fascist marches will follow. There’s always a firm reaction, it’s just decency doesn’t make any noise and rarely makes it to the headlines. Anyway I’ll give a few pieces of news  encapsulating the two souls of Italy:  

Refugee drowns in Venice as people film on their phones and do nothing

Teenager saves black child from getting hit by a train in Milan

Mein Kumpf-owning man shoots black immigrants on sight

Italians protest against racism

Refugee killed in Fermo after defending his wife from slurs

1500 in march to commemorate him

Black man shot to death in Florence

Italians join black people in march to commemorate him

So there’s the bright side I guess, we are genuinely engaged and young people who actually read books know we’re a country with very diverse genes, owing much of our language and culture and even food to “others”. This matters deeply to me because I think othering is the root of most, if not all, issues in our societies. This is a cultural problem first and foremost and I actually believe that. We often speak of inclusiveness or tolerance, but these are all patronizing concepts to me. Who the hell do I think I am to include or “tolerate” someone? No, I have to know in my heart of hearts that “others” aren’t to fear.

Anyway, racism is definitely an issue that exists and that’s getting worse. I’ve personally come to conclude racist behaviours in Italy are caused  and fueled by three broader factors that often inform one another.

Ideology is the most glaring: most racists are unapologetic fascists and racism is mounting and growing together with a wave of nostalgia for Mussolini’s party. A lot of fascists obviously never lived under the Duce in the first place, but they have a misguided perception of the ventennio as a time of justice and order where trains would run in time and so on. Something you’ll hear from time to time is that the duce “ha fatto anche cose buone” (also did good things). To these people, the presence of black people or muslims goes hand-in-hand with crimes and chaos: they’ll rape women! They steal and murder! They’re drug dealers! The fact that these things are sometimes true because eventually a rapist or killer or drug dealer will statistically have to be black is irrelevant: if caught off guard they’ll admit to believing every racist stereotype out there.

Xenophobia is more nuanced. The reason I don’t necessarily associate xenophobia with racism is that, until just a few years ago, the most feared foreigners in Italy were the very white Romanians and even Albanians before them. The media are also to blame for the way headlines were worded and they still tend to, often unwillingly, magnify the one crime someone black commits as opposed to those commited by Italians. The Macerata episode was most probably “inspired” by the killing of a young girl cut into pieces by at least one Nigerian immigrant. What do you now, since the news spread every Nigerian person has become a public enemy. Another huge media-related problem is they’ve created an unjustified alarm on the refugee emergency, treating it as if more people than in the past were arriving in our country (they weren’t) and as if the situation was completely out of control (it isn’t, although it’s not easy either). Crime is just one thing, though: people are afraid because our times are scary and dangerous, there are no jobs and the welfare is dying. They are hoping the government will help them and fearing that we’re too many for it to be sustainable. There’s a common misconception for which every immigrant in Italy is being hosted in a hotel and given 30 euros per day while unemployed Italians don’t have any money to buy food: while you can argue that the immigrant will only get 3 of those 30 euros, Italians still live this as if those resources are being spent on foreigners as opposed to themselves because scapegoating is a human, if wrong, thing. Clearly this is turning into a war of the underprivilegeds that will only result in diffidence and hatred, and the staggering misinformation about black people being all but enslaved in some areas of out country isn’t helping.

Conservativism, finally, is a branch of ideology but it’s not necessarily related to actual racism (though it can be). There are some who are entirely cool with people of other ethnicities as long as they “don’t bother” them. They’re too culturally lazy to accept anything different than what they knew as children, they fear Christmas will be cancelled and they don’t want, say, mosques, because they hardly know what they even are. They’re usually the same people who are annoyed by vegans: probably harmless, but they certainly don’t help.

Again I hope this helps. I really tried to be clear and truthful and not offend anybody.

[giuliocavalli]

«Non possiamo permettere che ritornino quelle parole (e quegli atti) della vergogna»: una lettera ai direttori

«Non possiamo permettere che ritornino quelle parole (e quegli atti) della vergogna»: una lettera ai direttori (la pubblica Nazione Indiana qui) Siamo studiosi e studiose, scrittori e scrittrici, preoccupati dal dilagare dell’odio nei media italiani. Odio verso le donne, i migranti, i figli di migranti, la comunità Lgbtq. Un odio che è ormai il piatto principale di moltissimi talk show televisivi nei quali vige da tempo la politica dei microfoni aperti, senza nessuna direzione o controllo. E spesso le parole che escono fuori da alcuni dibattimenti televisivi sono parole che mettono fortemente in crisi o addirittura contraddicono l’essenza stessa della nostra Costituzione, il richiamarsi a un patto antifascista e democratico. L’attentato di Macerata, dove un simpatizzante neonazista ha cercato la strage di uomini e donne africani, è qualcosa che ci interroga nel profondo. Le vittime sono diventate il bersaglio di un uomo la cui azione terroristica si è nutrita della narrazione tossica veicolata non solo da internet ma anche dal mainstream mediatico. Dopo quello che è successo non possiamo restare in silenzio. Serve una maggiore assunzione di responsabilità, serve un nuovo patto fra chi fa comunicazione e i cittadini. Le parole di odio, lo abbiamo visto chiaramente, possono tradursi in atti di violenza omicida. Azioni che, acclamate e imitate, rischiano seriamente di innescare una spirale di violenza. Per noi è evidente che il nodo mediatico ha contribuito a produrre e legittimare lo scatenarsi delle pulsioni peggiori. Per questo chiediamo ai media di non prestare più il fianco alla propaganda d’odio, ma di compiere anzi uno sforzo nel contrastarla. Intere fette di società (per esempio i migranti e i figli di migranti) nella rappresentazione mediatica esistono pressoché solo come stereotipo o nei peggiori dei casi come bersaglio dell’odio, contraltare utile a chi fa di una propaganda scellerata il suo lavoro principale. Sappiamo che nei media lavorano seri professionisti che come noi sono molto preoccupati per la piega degli eventi. Servono contenuti nuovi, modalità diverse, linguaggi aperti e trasparenti. Non possiamo permettere che nel 2018, ad 80 anni dalle leggi razziali, ritornino quelle parole (e quegli atti) della vergogna. Dobbiamo cambiare ora e dobbiamo farlo tutti insieme. Ne va della nostra convivenza e della nostra tenuta democratica. Quello che chiediamo non è un superficiale politically correct. Chiediamo invece una presa in carico di un mondo nuovo, il nostro, che ha bisogno di conoscersi e non odiarsi. Antonio Gramsci scriveva: Il vecchio mondo sta morendo. Quello nuovo tarda a comparire. E in questo chiaroscuro nascono i mostri. Dipende da noi non lasciar nascere questi mostri. Dipende da noi evitare che torni lo spettro del fascismo nelle nostre vite. Per farlo però dobbiamo lavorare in sinergia e cambiare i mezzi di comunicazione. E dobbiamo farlo ora, prima che sia troppo tardi. Giulio Cavalli Vanessa Roghi Helena Janeczek Igiaba Scego Sabrina Varani Christian Raimo Paolo di Paolo Michela Monferrini Frederika Randall Graziano Graziani Francesca Capelli Shaul Bassi Loredana Lipperini Shulim Vogelmann Amin Nour Reda Zine Sabrina Marchetti Amir Issa Alessandro Triulzi Francesco Forlani Fiorella Leone Francesca Melandri Ilda Curti Marco Balzano Alessandro Portelli Attilio Scarpellini Filippo Tuena Francesco M.Cataluccio Laura Bosio Gianfranco Pannone Antonio Damasco Franco Buffoni Evelina Santangelo Caterina Bonvicini Lisa Ginzburg Camilla Miglio Emanuele Zinato Andrea Inglese Andrea Raos Maria Grazia Meriggi Alessandra Di Maio Roberto Carvelli Francesco Fiorentino Grazia Verasani Caterina Venturini Alessandra Carnaroli Lorenzo Declich Gennaro Carotenuto Silvia Ballestra Chiara Valerio Marco Belpoliti Paola Caridi Marco Missiroli Alessandro Robecchi Valeria Parrella Nicola Lagioia Enrico Manera Jamila Mascat Maria Luisa Venuta Rossella Milone Giacomo Sartori Antonella Lattanzi Barbara del Mercato Amara Lakhous Rino Bianchi Carola Susani Roberto Carvelli Isabella Perretti Rosa Jijon Davide Orecchio Antonella Lattanzi Simone Giusti Simone Siliani Alberto Prunetti Chiara Mezzalama Elisabetta Mastrocola Teresa Ciabatti Andrea Tarabbia Antonella Anedda Elisabetta Bucciarelli Francesco Fiorentino Paola Capriolo Paolo Morelli Simona Vinci Giorgio Vasta Orsola Puecher Antonio Scurati Vins Gallico Daniele Petruccioli Enrico Macioci Maria Grazia Calandrone Eraldo Affinati Elena Pirazzoli Leonardo Palmisano Emiliano Sbaraglia Maura Gancitano Marco Mancassola Rosella Postorino Alessandra Sarchi Carlo Lucarelli Giorgio Pecorin Gianni Biondillo Ornella Tajani Mariasole Ariot Giorgio Fontana Girolamo Grammatico Francesca Ceci Brunella Toscani Tommaso Giartosio Attilio Scarpellini Simone Pieranni Elisabetta Liguori Giuliano Santoro Orofino di Giacomelli Maria Grazia Porcelli Giovanni Contini Federico Faloppa Federico Bertoni Flaminia Bartolini Dario Miccoli Emanuela Trevisan Semi Alessandro Mari Tommaso Pincio Laura Silvia Battaglia Anna Maria Crispino Andrea Bajani Renata Morresi Francesca Fiorletta Federica Manzon Angiola Codacci Pisanelli Alessandro Chiappanuvoli Società italiana delle Storiche Benedetta Tobagi Giuseppe Genna Fabio Geda Daniele Giglioli Angelo Ferracuti Alessandro Bertante Riccardo Chiaberge Giorgio Mascitelli Gherardo Bortolotti Annamaria Ferramosca Anita Benedetti Letizia Perri Luisella Aprà Masturah Atalas Rosalia Gambatesa Barbara Summa Lorenzo D’Agostino Anna Toscano Fabrizio Botti Chiara Veltri Sergio Bellino Barbara Benini Valentina Mangiaforte Maria Motta Emanuele Plasmati Giuseppe Maimone Paolo Soraci Pina Piccolo Graziella Priulla Leonardo Banchi Valentina Daniele Massimiliano Macculi Susanna Marchesi Corrado Aiello Giovanni Scotto Liliana Omegna Domenico Conoscenti Francesco Falciani Mario Di Vito Ileana Zagaglia Maria Elena Paniconi Antonio Corsi Stefano Luzi Nicola Marino Barbara Lazzarini Antonella Bottero Camilla Mauro Pietro Saitta Gianni Montieri Francesca Del Moro Adam Atik Maurella Carbone Sabrina Fusari Francesa Perlini Antonella Bastari Donatella Libani Alessandra Pillosu Lidia Massari Gianni Girola Andrea Fasulo Lidia Borghi Roberta Chimera Gaetano Vergara Camilla Seibezzi Lisa Dal Lago Nicoletta Mazzi Annamaria Laneri Sandra Paoli Cristina Nicoletta Leonardo De Franceschi Olga Consoli Chiara Barbieri Valentina De Cillis Letizia Perri Angelo Sopelsa Alessandra Greco Simone Buratti Giacomo Di Girolamo MariaGiovanna Luini Costanza Matafù Lorenza Caravelli Elena Maitrel Cavasin Leopoldina Bernardi Donatella Favaretto Simona Brighetti Margherita D’Onofrio Ivana Buono Manuela Olivieri Maria Cristina Mannozzi Helleana Grussi Elisabetta Galeotti Antonio Sparzani (si può firmare qui)

(la pubblica Nazione Indiana qui) Siamo studiosi e studiose, scrittori e scrittrici, preoccupati dal dilagare dell’odio nei media italiani. Odio verso le donne, i migranti, i figli di migranti, la comunità Lgbtq. Un odio che è ormai il piatto principale di moltissimi talk show televisivi nei quali vige da tempo la politica dei microfoni aperti, senza nessuna direzione o controllo. E spesso le…

[soldan56]

Siamo studiosi e studiose, scrittori e scrittrici, preoccupati dal dilagare dell’odio nei media italiani. Odio verso le donne, i migranti, i figli di migranti, la comunità Lgbtq. Un odio che è ormai il piatto principale di moltissimi talk show televisivi nei quali vige da tempo la politica dei microfoni aperti, senza nessuna direzione o controllo. E spesso le parole che escono fuori da alcuni dibattimenti televisivi sono parole che mettono fortemente in crisi o addirittura contraddicono l’essenza stessa della nostra Costituzione, il richiamarsi a un patto antifascista e democratico. L’attentato di Macerata, dove un simpatizzante neonazista ha cercato la strage di uomini e donne africani, è qualcosa che ci interroga nel profondo. Le vittime sono diventate il bersaglio di un uomo la cui azione terroristica si è nutrita della narrazione tossica veicolata non solo da internet ma anche dal mainstream mediatico. Dopo quello che è successo non possiamo restare in silenzio. Serve una maggiore assunzione di responsabilità, serve un nuovo patto fra chi fa comunicazione e i cittadini.

Le parole di odio, lo abbiamo visto chiaramente, possono tradursi in atti di violenza omicida. Azioni che, acclamate e imitate, rischiano seriamente di innescare una spirale di violenza. Per noi è evidente che il nodo mediatico ha contribuito a produrre  e legittimare lo scatenarsi delle pulsioni peggiori. Per questo chiediamo ai media di non prestare più il fianco alla propaganda d’odio, ma di compiere anzi uno sforzo nel contrastarla. Intere fette di società (per esempio i migranti e i figli di migranti) nella rappresentazione mediatica esistono pressoché solo come stereotipo o nei peggiori dei casi come bersaglio dell’odio, contraltare utile a chi fa di una propaganda scellerata il suo lavoro principale.

Sappiamo che nei media lavorano seri professionisti che come noi sono molto preoccupati per la piega degli eventi. Servono contenuti nuovi, modalità diverse, linguaggi aperti e trasparenti. Non possiamo permettere che nel 2018, ad 80 anni dalle leggi razziali, ritornino quelle parole (e quegli atti) della vergogna. Dobbiamo cambiare ora e dobbiamo farlo tutti insieme. Ne va della nostra convivenza e della nostra tenuta democratica.

Quello che chiediamo non è un superficiale politically correct. Chiediamo invece una presa in carico di un mondo nuovo, il nostro, che ha bisogno di conoscersi e non odiarsi. Antonio Gramsci scriveva: Il vecchio mondo sta morendo. Quello nuovo tarda a comparire. E in questo chiaroscuro nascono i mostri. Dipende da noi non lasciar nascere questi mostri. Dipende da noi evitare che torni lo spettro del fascismo nelle nostre vite. Per farlo però dobbiamo lavorare in sinergia e cambiare i mezzi di comunicazione. E dobbiamo farlo ora, prima che sia troppo tardi.

Vanessa Roghi Helena Janeczek Igiaba Scego Sabrina Varani Christian Raimo Paolo di Paolo Michela Monferrini Frederika Randall Graziano Graziani Francesca Capelli Shaul Bassi Loredana Lipperini Shulim Vogelmann Amin Nour Reda Zine Sabrina Marchetti Amir Issa Alessandro Triulzi Francesco Forlani Fiorella Leone Francesca Melandri Ilda Curti Marco Balzano Alessandro Portelli Attilio Scarpellini Filippo Tuena Francesco M.Cataluccio Laura Bosio Gianfranco Pannone Antonio Damasco Franco Buffoni Evelina Santangelo Caterina Bonvicini Lisa Ginzburg Camilla Miglio Emanuele Zinato Andrea Inglese Andrea Raos Maria Grazia Meriggi Alessandra Di Maio Roberto Carvelli Francesco Fiorentino Grazia Verasani Caterina Venturini Alessandra Carnaroli Lorenzo Declich Gennaro Carotenuto Silvia Ballestra Chiara Valerio Marco Belpoliti Paola Caridi Marco Missiroli Alessandro Robecchi Valeria Parrella Nicola Lagioia Enrico Manera Jamila Mascat Maria Luisa Venuta Rossella Milone Giacomo Sartori Antonella Lattanzi Barbara del Mercato Amara Lakhous Rino Bianchi Carola Susani Roberto Carvelli Isabella Perretti Rosa Jijon Davide Orecchio Antonella Lattanzi Simone Giusti Simone Siliani Alberto Prunetti Chiara Mezzalama Elisabetta Mastrocola Teresa Ciabatti Andrea Tarabbia Antonella Anedda Elisabetta Bucciarelli Francesco Fiorentino Paola Capriolo Paolo Morelli Simona Vinci Giorgio Vasta Orsola Puecher Antonio Scurati Vins Gallico Daniele Petruccioli Enrico Macioci Maria Grazia Calandrone Eraldo Affinati Elena Pirazzoli Leonardo Palmisano Emiliano Sbaraglia Maura Gancitano Marco Mancassola Rosella Postorino Alessandra Sarchi Carlo Lucarelli Giorgio Pecorin Gianni Biondillo Ornella Tajani Mariasole Ariot Giorgio Fontana Girolamo Grammatico Francesca Ceci Brunella Toscani Tommaso Giartosio Attilio Scarpellini Simone Pieranni Elisabetta Liguori Giuliano Santoro Orofino di Giacomelli Maria Grazia Porcelli Giovanni Contini Federico Faloppa Federico Bertoni Flaminia Bartolini Dario Miccoli Emanuela Trevisan Semi Alessandro Mari Tommaso Pincio Laura Silvia Battaglia Anna Maria Crispino Andrea Bajani Renata Morresi Francesca Fiorletta Federica Manzon Angiola Codacci Pisanelli Alessandro Chiappanuvoli Società italiana delle Storiche Benedetta Tobagi Giuseppe Genna Fabio Geda Daniele Giglioli Angelo Ferracuti Alessandro Bertante Riccardo Chiaberge

[lequotidienjulia-blog]

«L'Affaire de la pucelle de la rue Ormea» d'Amara Lakhous

«L’Affaire de la pucelle de la rue Ormea» d’Amara Lakhous

Alors que le journaliste Enzo Laganà savoure la perspective de vacances romantiques dans les cimes piémontaises, l’annonce du viol d’une adolescente de quinze ans par deux Roms enflamme la cité turinoise.

Aussitôt, une haine anti-Roms s’exprime et se déchaîne sans complexe, attisée par une presse à charge.

Missionné par sa direction pour couvrir l’événement, Enzo emploie tous les subterfuges…

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DIVORCE À LA MUSULMANE À VIALE MARCONI DE Amara Lakhous

📚AVIS DE LECTURE 📚

Résumé:

Chargé de démasquer un réseau terroriste dans le cadre de l’opération “Little Cairo”, Christian Mazzari, paisible interprète de l’arabe, quitte son identité sicilienne pour prendre celle d’Issa, Tunisien fraichement débarqué à Rome. Alors qu’il goûte les joies de la colocation à douze, sa route croise celle de Sofia (en réalité Safia), jeune mère égyptienne dont les…

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A Message from Dr. Donato

October 3, 2018

Friends,

It is a pleasure to write to you about the strides we are making in Italian Studies at the George L. Graziadio Center for Italian Studies here at California State University, Long Beach. Over the past year we have achieved a number of benchmarks and are proud of the growing status of our program throughout the United States, not to mention the caliber of our faculty, staff, and students, all of whom are working in new and innovative ways that demonstrate the intercultural dimensions of Italian and Italians in the world. Indeed, it is an exciting moment in Italian Studies, which over the past ten years has become increasingly aware of the profound effect that over a century of migration and immigration have had on the perceptions that Italians have of themselves, and the perceptions that others have of Italians, not to mention the profound question of what Italian identity even means as we explore the new Italian identities that have emerged in recent years.

The outpouring of migrant literature in Italy and the many new Italians who choose to use Italian as their primary means of expression in literary, social, and political works have taken Italy and the rest of the world by storm. Who is not fascinated by Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2015 In Altre Parole, (In Other Words, translated into English by Ann Goldstein, editor of the New Yorker and translator of all of Elena Ferrante’s works as well as many of Primo Levi’s)? Born to Bengali parents in London but raised in America, Lahiri has searched for a language and culture to truly call her own. She chose Italian, and in doing so, offered an example to the rest of us about the many ways that we can be tied to languages, cultures, and places. What does being a native speaker or practitioner of culture even mean anymore? These are the challenges that multilingual writers and students engage with in their Italian classes and curriculum at CSULB, which seek to ask questions of them and of the worlds they are studying, past, present, and at times in utopian futures. Take Algerian writer Amara Lakhous who moves between Arabic, French, English, and Italian, but has often settled on Italian in his writing, redefining the notion of Italianness in the crucible of the swiftly moving stream of today’s cultural and linguistic dynamics. Indeed, these literary experiences are thoroughly representative of the transnational era, one in which language, culture, and identity are predicated on hybridity, slippage, and seemingly separate migratory realities that are instead connected through communication, exchange, transport, and transmigration. In this rapidly evolving scenario, Italians, with their diasporic past, inhabit every continent, with traces of their heritage, languages, literatures, and cultures resounding today through a unique set of projects, both cultural and linguistic, that are creating spaces for their expression.

At the George L. Graziadio Center for Italian Studies, we are very pleased to introduce our students to the new face of Italian Studies through the work of the two faculty members who are featured in this newsletter. Fulbright Scholar in Residence, Francesco Chianese, specializing in Italian diasporic literature through his studies as a comparatist, and Diego Cortés Velásquez, an expert in the Intercomprehension of the Romance Languages and Translation Studies. As you read their profiles, you will immediately sense the excitement of their innovative approaches to language and literature and the ways in which their perspectives resonate with the realities of our own students in their own experiences of migrations, displacements, and negotiations, all of which have become experiences that may unite us, as we seek to better understand the world we live in and the people we live with.

A presto!

Clorinda Donato, Ph.D. Professor of French and Italian The George L. Graziadio Chair of Italian Studies Director, The Clorinda Donato Center for Global Romance Languages and Translation Studies Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques California State University, Long Beach

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Amara Lakhous: Shining a Light on Immigrants

Editor’s Note: Amara Lakhous, born in 1970 in Algiers of Berber parents, moved to Italy in 1995 with a philosophy..

The post Amara Lakhous: Shining a Light on Immigrants appeared first on Impakter.

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Algeria: Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet (Amara Lakhous)

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[Cristiani di Allah][Massimo Carlotto]

Cristiani di Allah di Massimo Carlotto, uscito undici anni fa da e/o, è tornato in libreria con un’introduzione di Amara Lakhous [Cristiani di Allah][Massimo Carlotto]

Algeri, 1541. Il Mediterraneo è teatro di guerre, razzie, traffici di schiavi, scontri ideologici e religiosi. La possente armata di Carlo V, punta di lancia della Cristianità, viene annientata alle porte della capitale nordafricana dai corsari di Hassan Agha, che reggono la città per conto del sultano di Costantinopoli. I corsari sono in gran parte dei rinnegati, ossia degli europei cristiani…

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Don't hurry. Allow me to tell you that your biggest failing is hurry.

Amara Lakhous