Read? Yes, but what?

Hello everyone! How are you?

It's been a while since I've written on this blog, but I've had the chance to teach more or less all of you, so I'm happy anyway! You should know that I have this article in mind.

for some time now, at least since I came across this volume while wandering through the aisles of Feltrinelli, one of the main Italian bookstores.

What is it? When did it come out? Why did it resonate with me? We'll talk about that in due time! Now let's get back to the main topic of this article!

My students often ask me: " What do you recommend I read to improve my Italian? "

This is a truly terrifying question for me, not so much for those who have just started studying, but for those who have been studying for quite some time. Don't get me wrong, when it comes to Italian literature, we're spoiled for choice , even when it comes to seemingly easy-to-read yet fundamental authors, like Italo Calvino. So I've sometimes recommended some of his books, like The Cloven Viscount, The Nonexistent Knight, The Baron in the Trees... Novels with fairytale elements (i.e., fairy tales) but with much deeper hidden meanings. This week, however, I picked up " The Baron in the Trees " again and read:

Un gentiluomo, signor padre, è tale stando in terra come stando in cima agli alberi, - risposte Cosimo, e subito aggiunse: - Se si comporta rettamente.

This is a somewhat extreme example, because this novel is set in the 18th century and was written by Calvino in the 1950s. However, reading it, I really thought: "Do we still talk like this? If we don't, what's the point of recommending it to students?"

It's true that not everyone studies Italian just to speak it during their holidays in Italy! Nonetheless, even when I read a book in a foreign language, I can't help but think, every now and then: " Are these words still in common use? " or " Is there any point in memorizing this word/expression? "

The solution to this dilemma has always been right before my eyes: comics!

I'm not talking about comics for children or teenagers, a sometimes childish product that risks boring an adult. In Italy, in recent years, graphic novels have gained popularity: graphic novels in which the stories unfold over the course of a single volume. They differ from simple comics because they deal with more complex and sometimes touchy themes and are therefore suitable for young adults and adults with a little more experience. The way the characters in these works express themselves is often natural, whether formal or informal, and faithfully reproduces the way Italians speak, creating a direct link between the written and spoken language.

Some authors also resort to the use of dialects or regional variations, a real nightmare for some of my students, who occasionally confess to me: " I heard that in Italy some people speak only dialect rather than standard Italian. Is that true? " Furthermore, if a graphic novel is modern, readers may find multiple references to Italian culture within it, ranging from pop culture to references to current events.

But that's not all! One thing that often discourages new readers of a language (myself included) is the irresistible temptation to reach for a dictionary every time they encounter an unfamiliar word. In this regard, one of the best pieces of advice I've read was to continue reading while ignoring unfamiliar words, only returning to them at the end of a chapter, for example. Graphic novels can be an excellent compromise because comics help us with images. Thanks to them, we can try to guess the meaning of a word or expression, and we can understand the meaning of an expression from context.

I've therefore decided to recommend a few authors and works that can help you learn contemporary expressions and words, and sometimes even help you understand contemporary Italian social reality.

The first author can only be Zerocalcare. Zerocalcare was born and still lives in Rome, in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of town called Rebibbia. The dialogues in his works use both formal language (for example, in captions or when he's ironic) and informal language (when two characters are talking to each other), and they cover a wide range of topics. From the death of his childhood friend in " The Armadillo's Prophecy" to " Kobane Calling," a graphic reportage of the author's journey to the border between Turkey and Syria in a war zone, to " This Night Will Not Be Short," in which he even tries his hand at journalism, highlighting facts and events that don't get much coverage in traditional media. Perhaps some of you will know him for the two Netflix series " Tear along the dotted line" and " This World can't tear me down" , but Zerocalcare is also the one who told the reality of the lockdown in Rome during the Covid period, in an animated series called " Rebibbia Quarantine" and which you can also watch today on his website.

In this comic strip, Zerocalcare uses two terms from the Roman dialect: “accannare” (which means to stop doing something that usually annoys others) and “accollarsi” (which in this case means to cling to someone and bother them continuously).

“Rosicare,” “bombarsi qualcuno,” and “sparare” are all verbs that belong to informal Italian language.

GIPI

Gipi is a well-known and beloved cartoonist, even beyond Italy's borders. He has been translated into French and American languages, and has won the Goscinny Prize and the Best Comics Award at the Angoulême Festival, previously awarded to only two other Italian authors, two giants of Italian comics: Hugo Pratt and Vittorio Giardino. Gipi is also an illustrator, animator, and even a director. In 2014, his graphic novel "One story" was nominated for the Strega Prize. The Strega Prize is one of the most celebrated literary awards, if not the most celebrated, in Italy, and the fact that a graphic novel was eligible tells us that this type of medium has truly reached the same level as a classic novel.

(From “Stacy”) "Fare qualcosa per un motivo ics” (to do something for a specific reason), “prendere sul cazzo” (to really annoy or piss someone off), using “questo” to refer to a person, avere la fobia di qualcuno o qualcosa (to be obsessively scared of something or someone)

MIGUEL VILA

While Zerocalcare was born and lives in Rome and Gipi was born in Pisa but also lives in Rome, Miguel Vila was born in Padua and his stories are set right there, in Northeast Italy, a highly distinctive area of our peninsula with a strong identity.

Often when my students ask me about dialect , they assume that since dialect has been almost completely lost in Milan, it's a phenomenon unique to the south. However, many areas in the north retain their own dialect, and Veneto is certainly one of the regions of Italy where the local dialect is most widespread and used. Reading Miguel Vila, you'll occasionally come across that dialect, as in this case:

Miguel Vila debuts with Padovaland, a graphic novel that reflects on the relationship we Italians have with the " province ." When we talk about the province, we're referring to the land outside the big cities, and in many cases, it's a term with a negative connotation. Being "una persona provinciale" can mean being simple, unaccustomed to the more sophisticated and complex contexts of the city. "Andare a vivere in provincia", on the other hand, means moving away from the chaos of the big city to find peace, but also giving up its stimuli and thus settling for a life devoid of some aspects that may be fundamental. For this reason alone, I recommend Padovaland: to better understand us Italians.

(From “Fiordilatte”) The typical use of the abbreviation of “questo” is just one detail contributing to the scene’s complete realism. It truly feels as if you’re inside an Italian home during a typical dinner-time discussion between parents and children.

(From “Padovaland”) “E compagnia bella” (and so on / and the like), “essere pappa e ciccia” (to be very close friends), “il moroso” (boyfriend), and “essere una persona con gli attributi” (to be a strong or determined person).

The truth is, I don't have an infinite knowledge of the graphic novel genre, so I'll avoid mentioning other authors. But please note that I haven't mentioned some of the Italian "sacred monsters" like Hugo Pratt, Milo Manara, Leo Ortolani, Manuele Fior, Vittorio Giardino, Guido Crepax, and others. However, I'll leave you with some links in case you're looking for more inspiration for your reading:

https://www.wired.it/gallery/migliori-fumetti-italiani/

https://fumettologica.it/2024/12/migliori-graphic-novel-italiani-2024/

https://www.comix21.it/graphic-novel-2025.htm

Finally, I return to the reason I decided to write this article. Dino Buzzati's The Desert of the Tartars, which you see in the image at the beginning of the article, is one of the most famous novels of 20th-century Italy and was ranked 29th among the most important novels of the last century in a survey by the Parisian newspaper Le Monde . As you can imagine, seeing it transposed into a graphic novel made a huge impression on me and prompted me to ask many questions, the first of which was: "Would reading graphic novels in French help me read in French more consistently?" Since the answer I gave myself was yes, I hope this can be a solution for you too, whether you already read in Italian or are just starting to do so. I wish you all a good read, and I'll see you next time!

Luca