Italian Way of Life

Modern Italy is preeminently a land of cities. Unlike neighboring France, Italy possesses many urban cultural centers, especially in the north and center. The south has not partaken fully of this predominantly urban culture, though Sicily contains several large cities. On the mainland, Bari is the next largest southern city after Naples. Formerly, many "cities" in the interior of the south were little more than peasant slums, populated by farmworkers who had to travel many miles each day to cultivate their scattered strips of land.

 

Most Italian city-dwellers live in large apartment houses. Some of the upper middle class have vacation homes. Despite much construction since World War II, serious shortages of low-priced modern accommodations remain. In much of Italy, construction is of masonry or cement. Many southern villages are perched picturesquely on hilltops, partly to escape the malaria that used to be prevalent in the lowlands. In the rural south it was not uncommon, until modern times, for an entire family to live in a two-room house; occasionally a precious farm animal might even share part of the dwelling.

 

On certain feast days in the villages, one can occasionally see people wearing traditional folk costumes. But urban dwellers are very conscious of the latest styles, and Rome, Florence, Milan, and Turin are major fashion centers.

 

The Italian cuisine varies considerably from region to region. In the south the diet tends to be starchier than in the north. The main meal, eaten at midday, usually begins with pasta (spaghetti and macaroni being favorites), though economically poor people often must content themselves with thick soup or lentils. Much bread is consumed, and wine often accompanies the meal. Olive oil is used for cooking and salads. Vegetables and fresh fruit form an important part of the diet. Except among the more well-to-do, relatively small amounts of meat, fish, and dairy products are consumed in the south.

 

In the north the diet is somewhat more varied. Meat (especially veal and chicken) and dairy products are eaten in larger amounts. For cooking purposes butter is often preferred to olive oil. Pasta has become popular in the north too, egg noodles being a particular favorite in Bologna. Rice is often substituted for pasta in Lombardy and Piedmont, while dishes prepared from cornmeal are common in Venetia. The evening supper, which may begin with broth, is lighter than the midday meal. Though most Italians enjoy wine with their meals, they drink very little at other times, and drunkenness is rare.

 

Italian stores and offices are generally open between 9 A.M. and 1 P.M., reopening at 3 or 4 and closing at 7 or 8 in the evening. Because of growing traffic congestion, efforts are being made in Milan and some other industrial cities to eliminate the long midday rest period.

 

Motion pictures provide one of the most popular forms of mass entertainment. Music in all of its forms is loved by Italians. Stage plays are less well attended than in many other countries.

 

Italians are great sports enthusiasts. Vast crowds watch professional football (soccer). Racing (bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles) is another favorite sport. Basketball has become popular. Italians often excel at horseback riding, fencing, gymnastics, skiing, swimming, and tennis. Only a few large cities have golf courses. With increased automobile ownership Italians have come to enjoy the pleasures of tourism.

 

Whereas social life in the Po Valley is more or less the same as in northern Europe, more-traditional ways tend to persist in the backcountry of the south. Peasant women there are still expected to perform hard physical labor, and the social life of unmarried girls is tightly supervised. In the larger towns the evening stroll (passeggiata) is an enduring ritual, the purpose of which is to show oneself to good advantage.

 

Throughout Italy stress is placed on social status. There is a love for aristocratic and professional titles; even lawyers and engineers are addressed by their titles. The usual form of polite address is the third-person singular form, Lei (literally, "she")—an awkward locution, which Mussolini tried in vain to replace with the more natural second-person plural, voi.