Gheddafi, political leaders and prominent scholars: degrees of semiotic and intellectual contradictions

Last spring semester, we held the Interdisciplinary Session of the GIF Social Science Track “The Quest for Freedom in Middle East and North Africa (MENA)”. Here the slides of my lecture: Degrees of semiotic and intellectual contradictions. You can carry out a semiotic analysis of the pictures, check the project of a book in the name of Muammar Gaddafi (with an accompanying programme of visits by 'leading international thinkers'); Saif Gaddafi awarded with a Ph.D. by the London School of Economics.

Merkozy, Berlusconi and the Bella Vita

The French and German leaders – now dubbed 'Merkozy' – exchanged glances and smiled when asked if they were confident Berlusconi would come up with reforms, prompting a gale of laughter from journalists: see the CLIP. 

Leading daily Corriere della Sera , which has criticised Mr. Berlusconi for delaying the economic stimulus package demanded by Europe, called the behaviour of Dr Merkel and Mr Sarkozy “excessive” in a front-page editorial, adding: “For an Italian it was not great, and it matters little if you are pro- or anti-Berlusconi.” “No one is authorised to ridicule Italy, even after Berlusconi’s obvious and embarrassing delays in tackling the crisis,” said Pier Ferdinando Casini, the head of the opposition UDC party, adding: “I didn’t like Sarkozy’s sarcastic smile.” It seems that Germany and France have their own problems too: DebtBurden Falls Heavily on Germany and France; anyhow: Italy's DownwardSpiral Accelerates and the Bella Vita lifestyle seemsto fall apart.

Let's finish with some exploits of Berlusconi: Does not understand English; I need to pee; Humiliating Merkel; Obama is tanned; with Bush; Queen Elisabeth; Best Moments; and a couple of the statesman Sarkozy: Drunk, with Hilary.
Check the slide "Berlusconi, TV, Education and Italians".

Rome Exception: Indignados and Black Blocks

Rome has been the worldwide exception; the indignados protest of October 15 has been hijacked by the Black Block. Read some related articles: The Vandals Occupy Rome, Briefly: How a Demonstration Was Hijacked; Rome violence exception to peaceful global ‘Day of Rage’; Stashes of Gas Masks and Clubs Prepared Days Before Rome Riots; In Italy, Rioting Leads to Recriminations. Here some images of an assault, the sequence of a caress by a police officer to a girl and a video.

2minutes@twilight: Florence Phone Film Festival

ASAUI, Comune di Firenze, in collaboration with Corriere Fiorentino and SNCCI – tuscan group present a short film contest open to all students of the Università di Firenze and to university students enrolled in any other university program in Florence. Every film (in English, Italian, or both) could have as a topic any aspect regarding the city of Florence and its life, culture or experiences; it must last two minutes (including credits) and must be filmed in Florence at twilight, and shot entirely with a smartphone. Films should be copied on miniDV (PAL) or as an AVI file (DV compression, frame size 720x576) on a CD-Rom. Videos on NTSC format will not be accepted. All films entered will in no way be returned. Deadline for all entries is no later than November 25, 2011. The final awards evening will be on December 7 2011, when the prizes will be awarded to the winners: 1st place: iPhone 4 32Gb; 2nd place: iPad 32 GB WiFi + 3g; 3rd place: iPod Touch 32. GB

To enter the contest: download the entry form and the disclaimers from the ASAUI webpage, www.asaui.org, fill them out and send together with the video to: florencefilmfest@gmail.com

For more information: florencefonefilmfest@gmail.com; info@asaui.org

I don’t feel Italian

Recently an Italian singer, Daniele Silvestri, made a cover of the song Non mi sento italiano (I don’t feel Italian), by Giorgio Gaber, singer-songwriter, actor and playwright, (groundbreaker of the musical genre known as teatro canzone (song theatre). This is one passage  of the song: "Excuse me, President," sings Gaber, "It's not my fault,/ But this country of ours,/ I don't know what it is./ Excuse me, President/ If I am so impudent/ As to say that I don't feel/ Any sense of belonging,/ And despite Garibaldi/ And other glorious heroes,/ I don't see any reason/ to feel proud." Below an English translation of the lyrics by Cristina Caimotto.

I do not feel Italian I was born and live in Milan. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately I am. Excuse me President It’s not my fault But I dont' know what it means to have patriotic feelings. Maybe I am wrong Maybe it’s a good idea But I fear it may turn into An ugly poem. Excuse me President I don’t feel the need Of the national anthem Of which I feel a bit ashamed. As for football players I don’t want to judge Our players do not know it Or maybe they have more decency. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately I am. Excuse me President If I'm impudent enough To state that I do not feel Like I belong to anything. Apart from Garibaldi And other glorious heros I don’t see any point In being proud. Excuse me President But I have in mind the exaltation Of black shirts At the time of Fascism. From which one fine day This democracy was born And you need a lot of fantasy In order to praise it. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately I am. This wonderful Country Full of poetry Is well pretentious But of our western world It is the outskirt. Excuse me President But this Government of ours That you represent Seems to me a bit wrecked. It is even too clear For people to see That everything is calculated And nothing works. It’s maybe that Italians By long tradition Are too keen to engage in any kind of discussion.

Even in parliament The atmosphere is incandescent They slit each other’s throat And then nothing changes. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately I am. Excuse me President You must admit That we should talk about The shortcomings we have. But apart from defeatism We are what we are And we also have a past That we do not forget. Excuse me President But maybe us Italians to other people are only spaghetti and mandolini. Then I get pissed off I’m proud and I show off I throw in their faces What the Rinascimento stands for. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately I am. This wonderful Country Is maybe not too wise It has confused ideas But had I been born in other places It could have been worse. Excuse me President Now that I’ve said so much There’s something else That I believe is important. Compared to foreigners We believe less But maybe we have understood That the world is a puppet theatre. Excuse me President I know you’re not too happy If people shout “Italia, Italia” Only at a football match. But in order to survive Or maybe as a joke As we’ve made Europe Let’s make Italy as well. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately I am. I do not feel Italian but thankfully or unfortunately thankfully or unfortunately thankfully thankfully I am.