This book explores the different ways in which psychoanalysis has been connected to various fields of Italian culture, such as literary criticism, philosophy and art history, as well as discussing scholars who have used psychoanalytical methods in their work. The areas discussed include: the city of Trieste, in chapters devoted to the author Italo Svevo and the artist Arturo Nathan; psychoanalytic interpretations of women terrorists during the anni di piombo; the relationships between the Freudian concept of the subconscious and language in philosophical research in Italy; and a personal reflection by a practising analyst who passes from literary texts to her own clinical experience. The volume closes with a chapter by Giorgio Pressburger, a writer who uses Freud as his Virgil in a narrative of his descent into a modern hell. The volume contains contributions in both English and Italian.

Italian as a national spoken language is a new experience for Italians; until very recently it was normal for the majority of the people to speak in a dialect, and Italian was a literary language used only by a minority. The first section of this book provides an outline of the language, and a sketch of the dialects. The authors also describe the formation of the modern standard language in its varieties (regional, social, and occupational). Part two is a reference grammar of contemporary educated Italian, presented in the way it is actually used, rather than according to traditional prescription. The book concentrates on contemporary usage and will enable the reader to understand and use appropriately a wide range of expressions, characterized where necessary according to their level of formality or their regional nature. The illuminating combination of historical perspective and contemporary grammer make this a unique contribution to Italian linguistics, and an invaluable reference book for all students and scholars in the field of Italian. The second edition has been revised throughout to bring it completely up to date.

First Published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book provides an up-to-date survey of the role of linguistic and cultural interaction in the process of language change. It covers theoretical issues; different forms of language contact in Medieval and Renaissance Italy; and dialect transition and diversity in the North and South of Italy.

Contents:
Preface to the Second Edition Preface Part 1: The Linguistic Situation in Italy Italian Today A Historical View Italian Dialects Varieties of Italian Part 2: The Grammar of Italian V An Outline Phonology Spelling The Article Prepositions with the Article Conjunctions Nouns and Adjectives Comparatives and Superlatives Adverbs Personal Pronouns Possessives Interrogatives and Relatives Negatives Demonstratives Indefinites Numerals Verbs VI Sixteen Points of Syntax Some Notes on Word Order The Use of the Article Evaluative Suffixes Compund and Juxtaposed Nouns Position of Adjectives Agreement of Adjectives Position of Adverbs Some Constructions with/without Prepostions Agreement of Past Participles Clitic Clusters Constructions with causative and perception predicates The use of si The use of indicative past tenses The use of the subjunctive Sequence of tenses The use of the conditional Short Bibliography; Table of main symbols used; Index