DOSSIER TEXT 3

1
DOSSIER (TEXT 3)

• From Daniel Franklin,
• the Editor of
• The World in 2008
• A special issue of
• The Economist

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Understanding the text

• Look for the central issue of each paragraph
• Pay attention to the tone of the final paragraph
• Look for metaphors
• Identify the main semantic fields
• Look up words/expressions you do not know
• Clarify geographical, political and cultural
  references

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Translation difficulties

• Line 4 front-loaded primary season
• Line 28 green
• Lines 33-34 The politicians have talked the
  issue up will they now let the people down?
• Line 39 In fact
• Line 48 contemplate
• Lines 53-54 Chinese empty-nesters
• Line 73 Happy nibbling

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Is newspaper discourse specialized discourse?

• A newspapers contains several genres, information
  (e.g. weather forecast, sport results), opinion
  (e.g. editorial, op-ed), news ( objective facts
  but usually including the authors explicit or
  implicit stance)
• News value (in general or according to the
  audience)
• negativity, recency, proximity, relevance,
  personalization, facticity,
• continuity, competition, predictability
• clarity, brevity, colour, liveliness
• Non-verbal elements (e.g. photos, graphics,
  sections)
• Some important features of the news
• the five W words 1 h word (Who, what, where,
  when, why, how),
• what is the source of the news?, facticity (e.g.
  numbers, data), reporting facts (direct and
  indirect speech)
• Stylistic features brevity (e.g.
  nominalisation), specialized lexicon of
  particular fields (e.g. politics, food),
  reporting opinions, the authors explicit or
  implicit stance

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DOSSIER (TEXT 4)

• Ian Fisher
• In a funk, Italy sings an aria of
  disappointment,
• in The New York Times, December 13, 2007
• widely quoted and discussed in Italian
  newspapers when it came out

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The New York Times

• One of the most important American papers, of
  liberal attitude
• It covers world and American news, and a wide
  range of topics
• Founded in 1854
• About 1 million copies sold daily
• The website contains
• a free personalization service
• todays newspaper
• most popular articles
• topic archives

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TEXTUAL and NON-VERBAL ELEMENTS in the paper
versus the on-line edition

• COMMON TO THE PAPER AND THE ON-LINE EDITIONS
• TITLE
• SECTIONS
• PHOTOS
• TYPICAL OF THE ON-LINE EDITIONS
• VIDEOS
• LINKS

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TITLE

• In a funk (from MacMillan English Dictionary for
  Advanced learners, 2002)
• Funk a type of music in the late 1960s that
  developed from SOUL and ROCK and ROLL
• (mainly American English, informal,
  old-fashioned) sadness, worry, anger
• In a (blue) funk (British, old-fashioned) very
  frightened
• (see lines 5-8 in the text a collective funk
  the least happy people in Western Europe)

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Italy sings an aria of disappointment

• (positive?) cliché of Italy linked to music and
  singing
• Use of an Italian expression ARIA, which is
  linked to the Italian genre of the opera
• Aria of disappointment ( linked to in a funk)
  delusione, insoddisfazione

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How to render in a funk into Italian? (Picchi
1999, SEI 1979)

• Depresso, in stato depressivo
• In crisi
• Che depressione!
• Essere giù di corda.
• Essere spaventato
• Avere una fifa blu
• Avere la tremarella
• Essere arrabbiato

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Suggested translations for the whole title

• From more literal translations to the
  interpretation based on the whole article
• In piena crisi. LItalia canta la sua
  delusione/tristezza
• LItalia in crisi canta/urla la sua
  insoddisfazione
• Gli italiani sono giù di corda. Anche cantare
  non li rallegra più
• Gli italiani sono nei guai? Bisogna che si
  diano da fare

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Readership

• What kind of knowledge is presupposed in the
  article?

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Unexplained cultural references

• Italys top bishop (para. 8)
• The Continent (para.18)
• Buckingham palace (para.24)
• Google we cant imagine in Italy that a
  30-year- old opens a business in a garage
  (para.43)
• Fellini, Rossellini, Loren (para. 45)
• Ferrari, Ducati, Vespa, Armani, Gucci,
• Piano, Illy, Barolo all symbols of style and
  prestige (para.46)
• The Republic of Venice Napoleons conquest of
  Venice in 1979 (para.58-59)

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Reporting sources

• What people are mentioned in the article? How
  are they presented?
• Whose opinion is reported - in a direct or
  indirect way?

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People mentioned or whose opinion is reported

• Veltroni, the mayor of Rome and a possible
  future center-left prime minister
• the American ambassador Ronald P. Spogli with
  40 years of experience in Italy
• Beppe Grillo,a 59-year old comic and blogger
  with swooping gray hair ( picture blog)
• Luisa Corrado, an Italian economist, lead the
  research behind the study at the university of
  Cambridge
• Alexander Stille, a Columbia university
  professor and expert on Italy
• Silvio Berlusconi, Italys richest man who became
  prime minister for the first time in 1994 (link)
  
• Romano Prodi who had served as prime minister
  from 1996 to 1998 (link)
• Gianfranco Fini, leader of National Alliance
  (link)
• Ginluca Giamboni, 36, a financial adviser in
  Rome
• Mario Adinolfi, 36, a blogger and an aspiring
  lawmaker
• Luciano Pavarotti, the tenor and arguably the
  worlds most famous Italian (link)
• Federico Boden, 28, a student
• Andrea Illy, the companys president
• Massimo Martino, director of Maxdesign, a
  furniture company
• Pietro Costantini who runs a third generation
  furniture company
• Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the chairman of Fiat
  and the president of Ferrari and the influential
  business group Confindustria
• Beppe Severgnini, a columnist for Corriere della
  Sera

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Italian ( and foreign) words and expressions

• Aria
• Malessere
• Malaise
• Basta, basta, basta
• Piazza
• camorra
• pizza
• pasta
• lira

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Some recurrent stylistic features

• Positive statements followed by criticism
• (paragraphs 1/2 5/6 25/26 28/29 30/31
  52/53 55/56 etc. )
• Explicit criticism (para.38 The Roman Catholic
  Churchs position is diminishing, from a cultural
  pillar to a lobbying group)
• Humour see para.1 meaning of red in a
  stoplight an obscenity politely translated as
  take a hike(para.16)
• Idioms (e.g. the kettle of fish, above the fray,
  a clean slate, on the cutting edge)
• Metaphors e.g. backbone, clouds, the stakes,
  the ivy, hurdle, a lensfocus Venice ..a
  corpse.. the Florida of Europe a white knight
• Facticity figures/data e.g. para. 40/50 the age
  of the people mentioned

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Difficult points

• Para. 7 Italys low-tech way of life
• Para. 8 Italys top bishop
• Para. 9 long the nations family-run backbone
  (line 24)
• Para.19 The whole kettle of fish stinks to high
  heaven
• Para 21 errant political system
• Para. 24 keeping Italys lagging south poor
• Para. 27 you could slough it off
• Para. 40 The old are not letting go
• Para. 41 in parks, clutches of old ladies coo at
  a single toddler
• Para 45 on the cutting edge
• Para 46 trademarking mystique into Made in
  Italy

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Dossier text 5

• Richard Owen
• La dolce vita turns sour as Italy faces up to
  being old and poor
• The Times, December 22, 2007

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Italian (and foreign) words and expressions

• La dolce vita
• Angst
• Malaise
• La Casta
• Raccomandazione
• La Mamma
• pasta
• mafia
• pizza
• spaghetti

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People mentioned or whose opinions are reported
either directly or indirectly

• A woman in a market
• Fabio Capello ( has taken charge of the England
  football team)
• Carla Bruni (has conquered the heart of the
  French President)
• The writer Umberto Eco
• Romano Prodi, the centre-left prime Minister
• Mr Zapatero of Spain, 47
• Mr Sarkozy, a bouncy 52
• The centre-right leader and media tycoon, Silvio
  Berlusconi, aged 71
• Michele Salvati, a leading economist
• Fellini, Visconti, Monica Bellucci, Sophia Loren
• Larry Gagosian, the dynamic American art dealer
• Vincenzo Cremonini, 44, who has expanded his
  meat-producing business at Modena to include
  railway and motoring catering, including the new
  Eurostar service from St Pancras
• Francesco Caltagirone, one of Italys top
  entrepreneurs
• Confesercenti, the traders association
• Coldiretti, the farmers union
• Mr.Prodis wife, Flavia,
• A well-dressed woman in a fur coat
• Gucci, Armani, Versace
• The European Union statistics office

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IDIOMS and METAPHORS

• In the wings
• At the cutting edge
• a job for life
• to bring the economy grinding to a halt
• The bulwark
• A haven
• To carve a niche
• The fourth week syndrome
• To feel the pinch
• To feel the squeeze
• The last straw
• To look out for oneself
• A needle match
• do-nothing demon
• Red tape

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DOSSIER Text 6

• Naked Ambition
• By Adrian Michaels
• The Financial Times,
• 13th July 2007
• Arts and weekend magazine

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The Financial Times

• British business and financial newspaper.
• It is now printed in Frankfurt.
• It has a UK, a European, a US and an Asian
  editions.
• Launched in 1888
• Published as a broadsheet in pink coloured pages
• In 1995 it launched its website

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Naked AmbitionBy Adrian Michaels (Text 6)

• What is the topic of the article?

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• The frequent use of naked women in advertising
  and in television programmes in Italy

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Naked AmbitionBy Adrian Michaels (Text 6)

• How is the topic developed?

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The authors argumentative strategy

• Writing (more or less) objective description of
  facts and events (e.g. para. 1, 34)
• Providing official figures and data (e.g.
  para.13,19,29)
• Reporting supposedly common opinions or general
  truths (e.g. para. 7 In the UK or US, such
  tactics might inspire anything from headshaking
  and irritation to clear outrage para.14 Maybe,
  nudity, chauvinism and a lack of professional
  attainment are para.36 Plenty of people
  dismissed the episode as stunt)
• Reporting his experience and opinion (e.g. para.
  4, Since moving to MilanI have been wondering,
  para. 20)
• Involving the reader by using you (e.g. para.
  3, 21)
• Reporting different opinions from both experts
  and common people (e.g. Sergio Rodriguez, group
  creative director at Leo Burnett Italy, the ad
  agency Caterina Presti, a 19-year old Italian
  student who moved from Milan to London in
  September Emma Bonino, minister for
  International Trade and European Affairs
  Graziella Parati, head of comparative literature
  at Dartmouth College in the US Mario Draghi, the
  Governor of the Bank of Italy, Veronica
  Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconis wife of almost
  three decades)

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UNIT 2 INSTITUTIONAL/SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

• PROMOTERS
• the state, public institutions ( e.g.
  universities, public libraries, post offices),
  charities (operational or campaigning), Nonprofit
  Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations
  NGO(e.g. Amnesty International, Medicins sans
  frontières), public and private corporations
  engaged in causerelated marketing or
  environmental policies
• lo stato enti pubblici organizzazioni
  senza scopo di lucro, ONG volontariato
• RECEIVERS
• citizens, supporters, members, consumers,
  visitors

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UNIT 2 INSTITUTIONAL / SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

• FIELDS COVERED citizens rights and duties (e.g.
  pensions, taxes), the great tragedies of humanity
  (e.g. poverty, child mortality) health (e.g.
  organ donation, aviary flu), environment
  preservation (e.g. recycling), education,
  political and cultural life, recreational
  activities ( e.g sport)
• AIMS fund raising, publicizing services and
  facilities, informing and creating awareness,
  warning

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INSTITUTIONAL/SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

• CONTEXTS (and GENRES) paper leaflets and
  documents in public offices, hoardings and
  billboards in the streets, ads in the Press, ads
  on TV, films, videos, web sites
• LINGUISTIC AND DISCOURSAL FEATURES from clear
  and precise official legal documents to creative
  strategies and techniques typical of advertising.

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BUREAUCRACYEnglish versus Italian

• Burocrazia/burocrate and bureaucracy/bureaucrat
  from the French bureau office in the 18th
  century from impersonal routine to a
  complicated and inefficient system of rules (new
  compound noun Eurocrat) often with a
  derogatory meaning
• civil service/ civil servant versus statale,
  dipendente pubblico, servitore dello stato
• BUROCRATESE, LINGUA DELLA PUBBLICA
  AMMINISTRAZIONE,, COMUNICAZIONE SOCIALE,
  PUBBLICITA PROGRESSO
• LEGALESE, BUREAUCRATESE, GOBBLEDYGOOK,
  OFFICIALESE, SOCIAL COMMUNICATION, HUMANITARIAN
  ADVERTISING

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THE LANGUAGE OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS TENDS TO BE
SIPLER IN GREAT BRITAIN

• ITALY
• a) historical reasons Latin as the language of
  the Roman Empire and the legal system, late
  national unification, influence of the catholic
  religion
• b) linguistic policy Semplificazione del
  linguaggio Amministrativo since the 1990s
• c) prevailing cultural attitude a
  high-context culture where a lot of information
  is taken from granted

• GREAT BRITAIN
• Historical reasons earlier national unification,
  invention of printing in the 15th century,
  importance of the Puritan religion and the
  Protestant Reformation, King James translation of
  the Bible into English in 1603, scientific style
  in the 18th century
• linguistic policy Plain English Campaign since
  the 1950s-70s
• a low-context culture where a lot of
  information is made explicit

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A one page example of social communication (or
humanitarian advertising) from he Financial
Times,8th March 2007

• Where does
• a litre
• of water
• cost
• more than
• in Central
• London?
• In a developing
• country slum
• WATER The water crisis hits the poor the hardest
  - by far. In some poor
• countries water costs 5 to 10
  times more than in richest ones
• ALERT The poorer you are, the more you pay.
• To put water on everyones
  lips. Click on www.UNDP.ORG

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UNICEF(The United Nations Childrens Fund Website)

• TASK
• Compare the international and the Italian
  versions of the UNICEF website and identify
  differences ( if any) in the choice of
  informative/persuasive strategies (observe, in
  particular, time orientation, neutral versus
  emotional styles, use of modality)
• www.unicef.org
• www.unicef.it

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The European Community Website

• http//europa.eu

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Europe and languages

• Some facts about the European Union.
• The EU
• - has 27 state members
• has 23 official languages
• has translation and interpreting services
• has English and French as main working languages

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Is there a variety of English called Euro-English?

• Lexical productivity, e.g. harmonization or
  harmonisation
• Loans from other languages, e.g. third countries,
  inter alia)
• Acronyms, e.g. Eurostat European Statistical
  Office
• Metonyms, e.g. The Bologna Process
• Metaphors e.g. Europes founding fathers
• Impersonal constructions versus personalizations
• Premodification and nominal style

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DOSSIER TEXT 7

• COMMUNICATING IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO NEW LOCAL
  RESIDENTS
• Communities and Local Government Publications
• www.communities.gov.uk
• February 2008

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Textual features

• Text genre written (and on-line) document
  addressed by a public institution to local
  authorities about how to inform new people who
  will settle in their community
• Textual organization use of numbered and/or
  titled sections, paragraphs, graphic devices,
  alternation of explanations and examples, of
  exposition and instruction.
• Clarity achieved through lexical repetition,
  parallel patterns and use of either common
  concrete words (e.g. keep streets clean) or
  general and simple words (e.g. things)

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Syntactic features

• . Many simple sentences made of one clause or
  coordinated clauses, and containing non-finite
  clauses few subordinate clauses
• . Use of personal pronouns (we/you) with active
  verb forms (we may be able to improve and
  your council can tell you) to emotionally
  involve the addressees few passive forms
• . Use of modal verbs that express possibility
  (may, can, could), intention (will), advice (
  should), ability (can),
• rarely obligation (must)

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LEXICAL FEATURES

• Use of simple words (produce, information, thing,
  new, important)
• Repetition of key words ( e.g. information packs,
  rights and responsibilities)
• Some words are explained or simplified ( G.P
  doctor lose your job being sacked)
• The semantic field of immigration migrant,
  refugee
• Use of politically correct, friendly
  expressions new local residents, new
  communities

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CULTURAL CONTENTS

• Shared British values
• Unwritten rules of behaviour

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DOSSIER TEXT 8

• Citizenship
• From the website of the Department of Foreign
  Affairs
• Republic of Ireland
• accessed on 4th March 2008
• http//www.dfa.ie
• Compare to the information on citizenship in the
  website of Ministero dellInterno Italiano
  http//www.interno.it

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Features of the text

• Official document informing citizens on legal
  matters
• Impersonal tone, use of the passive voice
• Long and complex sentences with subordinate
  clauses
• Very detailed and precise descriptions of
  documents or requirements
• Reference to Acts, use of precise legal concepts
  ( e.g. entitlement to citizenship,
  naturalisation) and terms (e.g. applicant, civil
  birth certificate)
• Cultural contents moving from ius soli to
  ius sanguinis