Browsing by Subject "Sicily"
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Item Ibn Ḥamdīs and the poetry of nostalgia : a rhetoric of collective memory(2012-08) Keener, Kaley Tamara; Ali, Samer M.; El-Ariss, TarekNostalgia is a term that is often used in literature and popular culture to connote an individual’s relation to a specific place, time or object, however, despite its use in literary analysis, it is often overlooked as a rhetorical devise employed to connect to, persuade, and influence an audience. This paper analyzes the poetry of Arabo-Siculo poet Ibn Ḥamdīs and his use of nostalgia in his poetry to influence and persuade his audiences abroad. I look to the sociologists Fred Davis and Svetlana Boym and their descriptions of nostalgia as being either public or private, restorative or reflective. Drawing on these terms, I propose that Ibn Ḥamdīs writes a relational nostalgia, that is, a nostalgia that he writes into his poetry not just for cathartic, personal benefit, but as a persuasive, rhetorical measure for his audience, and in this way he builds a collective, shared memory between himself and his audience. In addition to nostalgia, I will also be looking to Suzanne Stetkevych and Samer Ali and their work on the socio-political nature of Arabo-Islamic poetry to see how Ibn Ḥamdīs creates and employs this relational nostalgia for his audience and the effect it has on them.Item Setting a new standard: a sociolinguistic analysis of the regional Italian of Sicily in Andrea Camilleri’s Commissario Montalbano mystery series(2009-12) Andrighetti, Traci Lee; Russi, Cinzia, 1966-The purpose of this study was to conduct a sociolinguistic analysis of the regional Italian of Sicily in Andrea Camilleri’s Un mese con Montalbano (A Month with Montalbano). The lexical portion of a model developed by Sgroi (1990) to examine the use of regional Italian in literature was applied to the thirty short stories in Camilleri’s text to isolate the components of this variety. The study also attempted to identify the socio-economic features of the characters who speak regional Italian, the contexts of use of this variety and what the regionalisms in the stories indicate about Italy and the speech of Italians. The model revealed that Camilleri utilizes three main types of language to regionalize his prose: Sicilian Italian regionalisms; phonological adaptations of Sicilian dialect terms; and, hyperfrequent Italian words. The regional terms comprise only 24.4% of the lexemes identified by the model, while 40.4% represent Italianizations of Sicilian dialect that may be artistic adaptations of the author. A surprising 33.4% of the terms are standard Italian words that appear to have been chosen by Camilleri due to their similarity to equivalent Sicilian dialect terms. With respect to the sociolinguistic aspects of the study, the findings were somewhat problematic owing to the nature of the mystery genre. Specifically, middle-aged policemen and police-related contexts of use are disproportionately represented in the stories. Nevertheless, it was determined that regional Italian is spoken by male and female characters who represent a wide range of ages and occupations. Furthermore, results illustrated that regionalisms are uttered most frequently in professional, public and formal contexts. The requisites of the mystery genre also affected the findings in regard to Camilleri’s portrayal of Italy and Italian speech. Much of the regional language used in the text exaggerates the criminal aspects of Italian society and the expressive quality of this variety. In a more realistic vein, however, many regionalisms emphasize the multi-cultural makeup of the country and the intangible facet of Italianness. In general, the textual analysis indicates that regional Italian is a complex variety which may enjoy a broader usage in contemporary Italy than the traditional dialects.Item The Pantano Longarini shipwreck: a reanalysis(2009-05-15) Kampbell, Sarah MarieA late antique shipwreck was excavated in the Pantano Longarini marsh in the southeastern corner of Sicily in the 1960s. Despite its excellent preservation, problematic circumstances surrounding its excavation and publication have resulted in scholars ignoring or misinterpreting it. The majority of the data, including original field notes and documentation, are lost, and the drawings, plans, and photographs that remain are sometimes inconsistent and incomplete. My research reanalyzes the remains of this ship to determine how the Sicilians adapted to their marine and economic conditions within the turbulent socio-economic and political climate of late antiquity. The Pantano Longarini shipwreck demonstrates early stages in a shift from the tradition of plank-based construction to the modern system of reliance on an internal framework for structural support. Contemporary wrecks provide parallels, but unique elements distinguish this ship from those typically studied. Extremely thick timbers, a relatively flat bottom and bow and stern ramps argue that the Pantano Longarini ship was designed to carry bulk loads. Although the ship was originally reported as an extremely advanced ship, the present analysis points to a different type of watercraft: a coastal barge. Correctly identifying the Pantano Longarini ship allows us to gather information about the needs of its builders, as well as extends our knowledge of shipping and ship construction in the seventh century.