[325] Rome: Stories & Traditions, 6 September 2010

How does the piazza provide a lens toward Italian culture?

Italian culture has been mimicked and caricatured throughout the world. In Italy, this theatrical culture of expressive life, indulgent foods and religious prominence has found its biggest stage. Barzini explains, “The surface of Italian life […] has many characteristics of a show. It is, first of all, almost always entertaining, moving, unreservedly picturesque […] secondarily, all its effects are skillfully, if not always consciously, contrived and graduated to convey a certain message to […] the bystanders.” (74) From the piazzas of Rome, foreign bystanders become theater-goers, observing this show we know as Italian culture. Spooning la dolce vita into our open mouths, listening to the cries of a worn violin, travelers realize that Italy is speaking: “destiny can wait.”

To come to piazzas to observe is not a foreign idea; actually, Italians have been doing so since the Renaissance. The residences that surround piazzas all have balconies, “as convenient as boxes at the theater.” (Barzini) This culture is truly social and piazzas beckon characters like theaters call actors – the pull is not engineered, but instinctual. The piazza’s shows range from drama to comedy, with the mandatory love stories. The props range from Bernini fountains to soaring cathedrals. There are waiters in perfect black bow-tied costumes, ushering audiences into seats. The front row flowing onto sidewalks and streets.

The street that leads to one of Rome’s greatest piazzas, Piazza di Spagna, is Via Condotti. This is where tourists and locals alike find the most elegant shops, and the most deceptive actors. “The art of appearing rich has been cultivated in Italy as nowhere else,” Barzini testifies, because Italians have consistently found it difficult to acquire real power and wealth. (83) Oftentimes, the local that walks by in Gucci does not own more than the clothes on his back. It is more important to live lavishly on the street than in one’s home, because life is lived outside. Ancient Romans are known for their architecture, but today, fashion is the new show of power and prosperity. If enough people believe the show they see, it becomes a reality.

This show is perpetuated throughout Italy – not just of prosperity, but of fantasy. “Everything must be made to sparkle, a simple meal, an ordinary transaction, […] a cowardly capitulation must be embellished and ennobled with euphemisms, adornments. […] These practices were not developed by people who find life rewarding and exhilarating, but by a pessimistic, realistic, resigned and frightened people.” (75) Nothing unites people more than fear. Fear of disorder is silenced by the organization of Roman streets and the geometrical perfection of piazzas.

Unity is manifest in piazzas. There is food, art, and churches (the most Roman form of unification). Every piazza contains a church, and in the case of Piazza di Popolo, three churches. Religious life permeates the culture of Italy. Rome is one of the most important cities for the Christian religion, and the number of papal crests on buildings, and nuns roaming the streets, serve as tangible examples to that fact. There is a definite show of power with churches: golden mosaics, cumbersome marble columns, ceilings that seem to reach heaven, and crosses ten times the size of life. Tourists flock to these vaults of cultural richness, but on Sunday, the churches are never full. It seems as if the show of dominance is more important than the actual influence of faith.

So, religion and wealth are distorted pictures in piazzas, but there is one way to understand Italian culture: food! Standing at Bernini’s fountain in the center of Piazza Nuvona, one can do a three-sixty and see multiple sit down restaurants, gelaterias, pizzerias and sandwich shops. Throwing my arms up in the air, I spin around and take in the smells of fresh tomato sauce and baking bread. Here is Italian culture, the simplicity of pure food and the pleasure of enjoying it with characters of your life. I run up to Danilo and ask, “Where would you recommend we eat at?” I was prepared for options, but got a curt, yet genuine response, “I don’t know, Italians don’t eat here.” The show started crumbling.

I wheeled around, searching with my vision for verification of what he said. I saw people, plenty of people, but, they had that air of trying to be Italian, but not really succeeding. How could this be? The piazzas, just a moment before, had been everything Italian to me. Now I see the Germans seated in the front rows of restaurants, the Chinese taking individual photos by the fountain, and the Americans devouring huge slices of pizza. Maybe the piazza was the stage of culture earlier in history, but now it just seems to be a reflection of what we, as tourists, think Italian culture should be. But, that is not entirely true, “in fact, the thing and its representation often coincide exactly” in Italy. (85) This is all just a show of Italian culture, but this culture is a show.

I follow Danilo to a place the tourists don’t know around Piazza Nuvona, a hole in the wall smoothie shop. He orders banana mango, and I split banana strawberry with my friend Rebeka. We take our seats on the street and gaze at the actors. Pretending to be a local, I add to the open air theater, becoming a part of the revolt. Take it from an Italian, “Often, to put up a show becomes the only pathetic way to revolt against destiny, to face life’s injustices with one of the few weapons available to a desperate and brave people, their imagination.” (Barzini 83) As I sip my smoothie, I do not feel the pangs of fear that follow me at home, the overwhelming feeling of mortality. For now, the world is kind, life is sweet, and I feel immortal.

Piazza Nuvona with some awesome characters: Barbie & Ali.