Honorary Vice Consul Gabriele Niccoli talks about it

Author: Rosanna Turcinovich Giuricin

A bridgehead of a cultured Italianness, dedicated to study and research, commensurate with university models but also full of curiosity and enthusiasm of young graduates and PhD students and the strong support of established professors, the Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for Italian Studies (CSIS) expands an image of freshness at high levels. It has always been an important event, a verification of the levels achieved in all sectors concerning the study of the Italian language and culture by experts and teachers coming not only from universities in Canada but also from North America, Australia and Europe. The conference was held in recent days in Waterloo as part of the annual conference of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest multidisciplinary academic gathering in Canada. The annual conference of CSIS, chaired by Prof. Konrad Eisenbichler (born in Lussinpiccolo, in Canada since 1961) was created this year in collaboration with the Italian Embassy and in particular with the Italian Honorary Vice Consul in Waterloo, Gabriele Niccoli (of Calabrian origins), professor at the University of S. Jerome, one of the many in a vast territory of campuses and university locations of different religious constitutions and settings that strongly characterize its reality. In fact, the university extends over three now compact municipalities of Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, inhabited largely by a population of German origin but with the presence, among others, also of an Italian community. “These are people from Calabria, Tuscany, Veneto and Friuli – says Vice Consul Niccoli – almost 3.000 people strongly linked to a community identity that is expressed not only in language and culture, but also in the maintenance of regional traditions and characteristics. A lively world. There are essentially three elements that distinguish it: the link with religious rites and religiosity itself, the family, the dynamics of the village of belonging expressed elsewhere". What kind of immigration are we talking about? “Mostly post-war, expanded to include second generations born locally and now also including third generations, the grandchildren.” Traditions are those of older generations, how to maintain them and how to pass them on? “Through associations that stimulate encounters”. With what problems? “The difficulty of encouraging young people to participate. With the Italian Cultural Institute we have created initiatives such as the Maggio Artistico to stimulate creativity in all fields, which has been taking place for 17 years during a week full of events. Third generations, however, are part of an Anglophone reality that exerts a strong attraction and of which they feel, legitimately, an integral part". How do the messages coming from Italy influence all of this? “Excellence always represents an important reference but often the immediate approach is with a television that does not convey this aspect, preferring popular themes of low caliber that young people reject, often distorted, based on unacceptable stereotypes. This makes it difficult for us to maintain a high profile if not through qualifying cultural initiatives and university work." Many communities in Canada develop schools of all levels in their own language so as not to lose contact with the culture and the youth… a model that can also be proposed for the Italian community? “I don’t know if it’s a viable model, maybe too much delay has been accumulated. Understandable, by the way: the main concern of our immigrants in the first years, or decades, was integration also through the daily use of English (or French). As a result, Italian has become a strictly family or community language, with the resulting consequences. The bond with tradition remains strong, even among young people. Often, even without knowing the Italian language, they declare themselves Italian and this is a strong sign of an identity that resists beyond the linguistic aspect. They are hybrid forms that correspond to the new conditions of an evolving world that creates new models, new situations and also new responses. Perhaps time will be able to surprise us." The Italian Embassy, ​​which supported the Congress, also wanted to insist on the presence of a group of young Italian scientists working in Canada. What is their role? “They represent that excellence that contributes to the image of Italy in the world, which is very important for us. These are young people engaged in niche studies, nanotechnology, quantum mathematics and more, coming from all over Italy and included in important projects. There are two hundred of them throughout Canada, included in the association that represents them." Even at the Congress their contribution was notable… “We wanted to involve them in a very interesting debate regarding the relationship between scientific subjects and humanistic subjects. To discover together that this is a recent division, linked to the industrial revolution, in the previous centuries scientists were simultaneously men of letters and poets. And the extreme specialization that is necessary today does not help to bring back into fashion these complete figures. Despite this, many of the scientists present at the debate said they came from Italian classical high schools. To testify that humanistic studies contribute to that open-mindedness that allows one to try oneself in any field. Translations from Greek and Latin create the basis and dictate the rules of a concrete and disciplined approach also in the scientific field. The return therefore to well-rounded personalities, but not only. In one of the interventions, a beautiful analysis of Pascoli's poems that suggest a close connection and perfect knowledge of physical, astronomical and general scientific phenomena that allow the author to think deeply about nature and man. Very useful as an example to motivate children in their studies." A successful Congress also for the very interesting and novel relations, mirror of a lively and vivacious research. Are you satisfied with it? “A lot, especially for the participation of many young colleagues, prepared and precise. A close collaboration with their teachers is evident, but also an ever new and personal approach to the topics. Italy with its authors, its history, literature and poetry, architecture and history, are an infinite pool of curiosities and fields to explore. A strong reference that makes us proud." The meeting with the writer Nino Ricci was also very welcome… “An Italian, his family is of Molise origins. The Lives of the Saints, from 1990, was the first book of what would become a trilogy. A best-seller and winner of the Governor General's Award, the novel was also made into a television film, titled Homeward Bound, directed by Jerry Ciccoritty. We appreciate his considerations on belonging, a very current theme in a world of contacts and contaminations that puts us in front of the question of who we are, especially in multicultural societies like the Canadian one, so frequent today also elsewhere. The world moves with all its problems, knowing one's origins and placing oneself correctly in relation to one's belonging is a challenge and an achievement". During the three days of presentations, many topics were touched upon, many of which referred to places of Italian culture par excellence, such as Tuscany but also Venice, where typographies and typographers represented a forge and laboratory for the dissemination of Renaissance culture. But also with trips to more recent times, such as Trieste in the 1930s with its new architecture. A mine of news and reflections from an English-speaking and Italian-speaking world that thinks and reasons in both languages ​​without a solution of space or time. Fascinating!