Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy (Italian Poetry in Translation Book 2)

related to the statutes of literariness, which

involve the linguistic instrument most of all

in its exemplary grammatical coding.

The regions under scrutiny have

experienced (or were subjected to) century-

old conditions that have profoundly affected

the very mindsets of the populations,

determining contrasting attitudes,

conservative and aiming timidly at

uniformity. The need to safeguard ethnic

identity has often been expressed by

remaining enclosed within the natural

anthropological and territorial boundaries.

This has also entailed a strong attitude to

reclaim one's dignity, both in the

spontaneous reiteration of ritual forms

directly tied to oral transmission, and in the

expression of a knowledge which is most

often born from local experience rather than

national. The latter, in reality, has always