Pasolini and the Debate on Language.

Abstract

“Nuove questioni linguistiche” is the title of an article by Pier Paolo Pasolini which was initially published in 1964. In that article Pasolini claimed that the Italian language had finally been born, since almost 90% of Italians used more or less the same communication language. Nevertheless this event was not a particularly positive one, as the new Italian language was influenced and dominated by particular elites (the industrialists of Northern Italy) whose aim was to control the rest of society not just by offering consumer products, but also by impoverishing the traditionally rich Italian language. Pasolini’s provocative article generated an intense debate on the Italian language which took place in Italy between 1964 and 1967. Most of the contributions to the debate have been collected in a volume by the Italian linguist Oronzo Parlangéli. This article reviews Parlangéli’s book and analyzes Pasolini’s statements in the light of the development of Italian society in recent years. It focuses on the fact that today mass media and technology have much more influence on the language than they had fifty years ago, but still the language is able to create defences against the proliferation of “false technicism” (transmitted by commercials) and technologic vocabulary (conveyed by special purpose languages).

Keywords: Pasolini, Parlangéli, language, Italian, technology