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Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

(www.cnn.com)
231 points rntn | 2 comments | 02 Apr 23 17:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source
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hunglee2 ◴[02 Apr 23 17:47 UTC] No.35413150[source]▶
I think we (Americans and Europeans alike) wholly underestimate how Americanised European culture is becoming.

This is an observation rather than a criticism as I don't know whether this is 'good' or 'bad' but it is noticeable phenomena manifest through language, and probably an unintended consequence of the dependency of Europe on US communication technology, leading to the import of US communication styles, political priorities and cultural values.

France have always been conscious of this, no doubt as a result of their centuries old conflict with England, but it is interesting now to see Italian nationalists responding similarly. It's futile of course, as neither Italians, French nor any combination of European countries can or will make an internet independent of the US

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1. Levitz ◴[02 Apr 23 20:37 UTC] No.35414918[source]▶
I live in the Basque Country, where there is considerable effort put by the government to preserve Basque language and culture.

It has always seemed like a losing battle to me. Basque people might speak more Basque, but they still see Netflix, listen to international bands via Spotify and immerse themselves in international trends via Instagram and Tiktok.

My conclusion is that the government does this because language is the one part of culture the government can legislate around.

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2. tossaway0 ◴[02 Apr 23 21:03 UTC] No.35415182[source]▶
I'm Basque but have lived outside the Basque Country for a long time. I actually now find the cultural efforts of the Basque government to have been beneficial, even if most people I know would call them onerous. I think it has played out well for the Basque Country to emphasize Basqueness (whatever that can mean) as a way to distinguish a place that may otherwise have stood out even less on a global stage.