Elena Ferrante's L'amica geniale is written in perfect Italian, but her characters speak the Neapolitan dialect most of the time. Here we discuss what Italian and dialect mean for them and their future.

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L’amica geniale (in Italian) on Amazon.com (affiliate link)

My Brilliant Friend (English translation) on Amazon.com (affiliate link)

Our exploration of Italianness continues with an iconic character of the 1970s: Paolo Villaggio's Fantozzi. Not just comedy, but also social criticism.

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What does it mean to be Italian? Let's find out together. Today we’d like to read with you two passages from the beginning of Beppe Severgnini’s book La testa degli italiani, where he tries to get inside the head of Italians, and to explain it to non-Italians.