My Considerations About D. Singh’s Article: Cultural Differences: England vs. Italy

Anna Maria Aiazzi, Italy

Anna Maria Aiazzi graduated in Modern Foreign Languages (English Language and Literature) at the University of Florence in 1999, discussing a thesis about V. Woolf's Orlando. She took her Ph-D degree in English and American Literature at the University of Florence in 2004. She has published some articles in Italian literary reviews concerning V. Woolf, W. Lewis, Vorticism and Quantum Theory and the Italian translation of Joyce's Ulysses by the Florentine G. de Angelis. Since 2003 she has been teaching English Language and Culture in Italian secondary schools of second degree. In 2006 she took a qualification degree to teach English in secondary schools of first and second degree. In 2007 she also took a qualification degree as teacher for impaired students. E-mail: bruno.aiazzi@tin.it.

As an Italian, I have actually enjoyed Singh’s article about cultural differences between England and Italy, that is, English and Italians. In particular, I have appreciated most of what Singh says because he has observed Italians and the Italian way of life as a foreigner, so his perspective aims at being objective or, at least, it should be more objective than mine. For this, it is very instructive because it gives me an idea of how foreigners, and in particular English people, see Italy and Italians.

What puzzles me a little is the impression to read between the lines the assertion of an implicit superiority of the English way of life with respect to the Italian one, that is, a denigration of Italian culture as a whole. Perhaps it is only my impression: if so, I apologize to the author for my misunderstanding. In fact Italians, like all other peoples, have weak and strong points. I can well understand that, from a foreign point of view, weak points are more visible than strong ones. We Italians know we are full of defects, but we also know we have strong points, such as, above all, human warmth.

In fact, there are a lot of stereotypes about Italians, just as about any other European people, which are partly true, but not completely. I am sorry to say that Singh, although he claims at the end of his article that he does not want to make any generalizations, has made some exaggerations and has given examples taken to the extreme. For example, when he describes the way in which Italians drive :‘The Italians on the other hand, tend to drive with their eyes looking to the left or the right, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the leg of their partner’. I can assure him that I, and most of my fellow citizens, do not drive in this way, but try to be as careful as possible. But it is true what he says about mobile phones: Italians are really crazy about them and some Italians use them in any occasion, even when they drive, although it is not permitted by law. This way of driving is very dangerous and irritates me most. Of course, I greatly disapprove of it!

I also find exaggerated what Singh says about honorific titles: ‘Many waiters in coffee bars address their clients according to their profession and if they don’t know, they’ll guess’. It is true that Italian society expresses its classism through the use of honorific titles referring to professions, and the use of a simple ‘Mr.’ before a surname can give a bad impression, because it implies you are addressing a person who has no university degree and probably belongs to a lower social class. But if you do not know a person, you address him/her with a ‘Mr.’ or a ‘Ms.’, you do not normally try to guess his/her profession and give him/her a whatsoever title! Then, when you have got to know him/her, you can change your way of addressing him/her and use the ‘proper’ title as a form of respect and class distinction. By the way, I have got a university degree, but nobody in my town addresses me as a ‘doctor’! So, perhaps university titles are not sufficient, you also have to be a wealthy and powerful person to be addressed with as a ‘doctor’, an ‘engineer’ or a ‘lawyer’.

The description of condominium meetings is also exaggerated: it is true that Italians speak a lot, perhaps too much, but not so much! At least, not all Italians. ‘Condominium meetings are quite an experience. Lots of paper and discussions that go on long into the early hours of the morning, without any firm decision being made on anything’. Perhaps it is true that Italians are more quarrelsome and disrespectful of laws than English (see the use of mobile phones), and it is also true that bureaucracy in Italy conditions people’s lives very heavily (‘the cost of a bank account in Italy is enormous’). On the other hand, I find positive that Italians have got written laws (i. e., a written Constitution), because it is reassuring and gives us a sense of fixed, established rules which should be the same for everybody, without exceptions or personal interpretations, even if based on traditions and customs.

As an Italian, I dare say that it is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to define an ‘average Italian’. In fact, in his article Singh talks about Romans, who are mostly taken as examples of average Italians, but actually they are not. In Italy differences are not only of social class, but also of regional provenance. Italians are very different from North to South: Rome is almost in the Centre of Italy, so Romans could be thought to represent a ‘balance’ between Northern and Southern Italian characteristics. Perhaps they are, but it is quite difficult to say. Above all, it is difficult to speak about Northern, Centre and Southern Italians without falling again into stereotypes and generalizations! In any case, it is also very difficult to define an ‘average Briton’ without irritating any British people.

I am Florentine, that is, Tuscan. Tuscany is in the Centre-North of Italy, just halfway between Rome and Milan. As a Florentine, and thinking about Florentines in general, I do not find myself represented by Romans, who are very different from us, just as Venetians, Neapolitans or Sicilians are very different from Tuscans and the ones with the others. Perhaps Southern Italians are ‘warmer’ and Northern Italians are ‘colder’ and more ‘detached’, but is it not another stereotype, just as saying that Northern Europeans are ‘colder’ and Southern Europeans (Spaniards, Italians and Greek) are ‘warmer’?

In general, I dare say that Italians are willing to establish human relationships, they like being together in groups and enjoy other people’s company. Perhaps they tend to intrude into other people’s privacy, sometimes out of curiosity, but also out of a genuine desire to share and to be present. They are not indifferent to others. They can seem self-centred but, if you ask them for help, they will give it to you. According to Singh, ‘the English value their space’. I do not know if it is a way of saying that English seem to be detached, sometimes even indifferent towards others. Many of them seem elusive and willing to avoid human relationships as much as they can.

In this respect, physical contact for Italians is a way of establishing human bonds, of getting into contact with other human beings. Gaze and hand movements also have this function: to establish a link, to get into contact, to share feelings and emotions. Hand movements are also a way of expressing oneself at more than one level, that is, the verbal one. By using body language, not only verbal language, Italians are able to convey more than one meaning at a time, and in a more complete way. In fact, verbal language can sometimes be inexpressive or can actually convey no meaning at all.

I have to confess that avoiding direct gaze is what irritates and discomforts me most in English people. I interpret it as a message of closure and refusal of human contact. According to a way of saying, eyes are the mirror of the soul so, by looking people into their eyes, you can understand their innermost feelings and intentions. Eating with other people for long hours is for Italians another way of sharing with others not only food, but also human warmth, a way of making others understand that you welcome them into your life. I have found very sad to read about English children eating their dinner alone in front of television! In Italy eating together at meals is a way of keeping families and communities together. Unfortunately, this tradition is not so kept as in the past.

As far as flexibility and inflexibility are concerned, it is true that Italians are perhaps too flexible, and this can be a weak point. English, on the other hand, are sometimes too inflexible, which can also be a weak point! But it is true that Italian bureaucracy is less efficient than the English one, and this is a severe limitation for people who want to live in Italy, not only for Italians.

According to me, we should not express judgments about other people’s cultures and ways of living: any of them are plausible, if they respect common laws and the shared principles of humanity. They are only different ways of relating to others and to the outer world, but none of them are the best in absolute! I agree with Singh that things are rapidly changing owing to globalization, and also traditions and ways of life are changing and becoming more uniform all over the world: ‘Globalization, modernization and the means of communication will ensure that the changes continue’.

It is curious that, reading Singh’s conclusion, I would have said exactly the opposite about Italians and English. In fact, Singh says: ‘I would conclude by saying that the Italians often take themselves too seriously and need to lighten up, while the English should perhaps consider sharpening up and taking themselves a bit more seriously’. According to me, it is the Italians who have to take themselves more seriously, because they are sometimes too easy-going; on the contrary, English should become a little ‘softer’, because they sometimes seem too serious and too ‘sharp’!