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Article: In search of the Italian language: integrated Italian.(Italian Literature Today)
- Article from:
- World Literature Today
- Article date:
- March 22, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 University of Oklahoma. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In Italy there has been a revolution of historical significance which should have an obvious and immediate consequence on literature. Today, finally, the national language is not what it has been in the past. For centuries the national language has been a utopia of lettered men who always felt like arguing on the values and failings of the vernacular Tuscan tongue, or they liked to display their own preferences regarding blends of dialect. Standard Italian is today a reality. As a matter of fact, a recent Doxa(1) survey confirms the existence of a standard Italian, revealing that 86 Italians out of 100 speak it, that among those 86 speakers 24 speak only standard Italian and ...