He describes the characters, setting, and local superstitions and rituals in detail but with a poetic touch. As an educated northerner, Bassani is an outsider, but his depictions of the villagers are warm and sympathetic. The title refers to a local saying, used to show how people in the south felt they had been neglected by Christianity, change and morality. This novel is basically a memoir of his exile, but it is more about the people of the village he stayed in than about Levi himself. Carlo Levi – Christ Stopped at Eboli (Basilicata)Ĭarlo Levi was an artist, activist and doctor, exiled to what is now Basilicata for opposing Fascism in the 1930s. The 'leopard' from the title actually refers to a different wild cat, now extinct in Europe and a symbol on the Di Lampedusa coat of arms – a symbol for the dying aristocracy, while Sicily's arid landscape may be seen as an allegory for the mindset of the nobility, unsuited to growth or renewal.Ĥ. Il Gattopardo follows the decadent Prince Fabrizio Salina and his family as they struggle to cope with the inevitable coming change. He was in a good position to tell this story, being the last in a line of Sicilian princes himself, and the novel is largely based on the life of his great-grandfather. Tomasi documents the decline of the island's aristocracy in his widely praised historical novel, set in the Risorgimento period which led up to the unification of Italy. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa – The Leopard (Sicily) Most Italians will have studied the novel at school and many will be able to recite one of its most famous passages, “Farewell mountains” or “ Addio, monti”, which details the beauty of the Lombard landscape as protagonist Renzo leaves his (unnamed) village.ģ. At its heart it is a love story so enduring that Pope Francis recommended all engaged couples read it before getting married, but it also tells the story of 17th century Milan and Italy – Spanish rule, the Thirty Years’ War, famine and the plague – through the eyes of ordinary people, who play their part in key historical moments. The novel tracks the fate of an engaged peasant couple, Renzo and Lucia, who have to flee their hometown after a local tyrant takes an interest in Lucia. Manzoni's classic is hailed as 'the first Italian novel' and several of its characters and quotations have become part of everyday Italian vocabulary 'Perpetua', the name of the local priest's servant, is now a byword for a busybody. Photo: Second edition cover for I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed). Alessandro Manzoni – The Betrothed (Lombardy) Southern accents-as sounding 'lazy' or 'uneducated.2. so, for example, instead of the standard Italian ' aspetta' (wait) a Neapolitan might say something that sounds more like 'ush-PEHT.' Similarly, Ischia is pronounced 'EESH-kyuh.' Note that this accent is stereotyped in much the same way as some Americans stereotype U.S.

some other consonants get shuffled around (e.g.

'quello/a' becomes 'chillo/u/a', 'questo' becomes 'chisto' or just 'sto') d sometimes becomes r (so addò, Neapolitan for 'where' sometimes sounds like arrò).'ci', 'ce', 'sc', 'sp', 'sf' and 'sq' all have the sound) 'sh' sounds are added where not normally found in the standard dialect (e.g.Names often get cut off after the stressed syllable (so Gennaro becomes Gennà).non-stressed vowels become 'uh' (called the 'schwa'-this is the same thing we do in English).Here are some tips on what to expect to help you understand this 'Neapolitan accent':

Many Neapolitans will speak 'Standard' Italian with non-Neapolitans, but with a thick accent, which makes it difficult for even native (northern) Italians to understand. Many speakers switch easily back and forth between Neapolitan and 'Standard' Italian, sometimes speaking somewhere between the two forms.

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