3 ms·

> In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed the What is it with Italians and UNESCO? I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about things Italian. I speak the language fluentl

by davidw 4y ago

> In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed the What is it with Italians and UNESCO? I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about things Italian. I speak the language fluently, my kids have citizenship, I can talk about politics there - but I never quite grokked this fascination with getting everything declared UNESCO this, UNESCO that.

HeavyFeather 4y ago
At the core, I think there's just a lot of cultural and historical sites in Italy specifically because of the Roman Empire and its tentacles. Then there's the fact that UNESCO sites receive funding, which Italians love. Then Italians are (overly?) proud of their history and food and they won't pass up an opportunity to tell the world they're the best. [1] 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2uDyzxP6g
- davidw 4y ago
  I should have specified that I'm not really talking about all the amazing historic places that Italy has. That makes perfect sense. It's the random things like this singing that have me scratching my head.
progre 4y ago
Italy are marketing themselves as "Cultural Superpower" since a few years. Having lots of UNESCO things plays in to that I guess? But apart from the marketing, Italy really has a lot of stuff worth protecting.
- foul 4y ago
  I think Italy's leaders and cultural champions' aim is to regard Italy as "The cultural backbone of the world", because to be a superpower you have to lead others... They mostly try to market Italian landmarks and folklore as an entitlement to get funds from cultural endeavours.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  Italian cultural resources >> natural resources Seems fair as a country to say "How can we maximally utilize our cultural resources?" If the UN provides a vehicle with which to do that, they use the vehicle. Gripe about the game, not the good player.
NoZebra120vClip 4y ago
I am not sure there is any reason to single out Italy here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_UNESCO_Intangible_cultural_heritage_(en).png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_UNESCO_Intang... The interesting parts are the non-parties, such as the British Empire, joined by Russia, the United States, Somalia, et. al. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_i... Indicates that Italy has the most (58) World Heritage Sites, above China (56), so considering landmass, I suppose that's a lot.
illiarian 4y ago
A friend of mine is fascinated with what he calls "the marketing prowess of the Italians". There are so many things (especially food) that Italians have basically taken over in the world's psyche (well, Western world).
leokennis 4y ago
I think https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_traditional_specialities_in_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_t... is also related to this. Basically, your "thing" (a style of song, a method of making cheese") gets a stamp and then people cannot mess with it. As a "consumer", I get some form of quality assurance that the UNSECO site will be well maintained, that my Parmigiano Reggiano is not some cheap knock off. It's a bit like someone with a RHCSA certification, or an MFI certified Apple accessory.
- epolanski 4y ago
  > that my Parmigiano Reggiano is not some cheap knock off In US it probably is[1] as US does not recognize European PDOs on food. You can sell Sammarzano tomatoes without the tomatoes even coming from Italy. This is all political and has roots in the Boeing-Airbus trade dispute. https://www.walmart.com/search?q=parmigiano https://www.walmart.com/search?q=parmigiano
  - Bud 4y ago
    [dead]
- davidw 4y ago
  I get it with regards to an actual, physical site. That makes sense to have some kind of protection. But with things like this kind of singing, what does it really achieve? Do the singers get money to teach it to the next generation or something? When I still lived in Padova, a friend wanted me to translate an application for... I think it was "open source software" to be declared some kind of UNESCo thing, and while I am normally pretty generous with my time, I was just like "open source needs people to work on it, not some kind of UNESCO designation".

by davidw 4y ago

HeavyFeather 4y ago

At the core, I think there's just a lot of cultural and historical sites in Italy specifically because of the Roman Empire and its tentacles. Then there's the fact that UNESCO sites receive funding, which Italians love. Then Italians are (overly?) proud of their history and food and they won't pass up an opportunity to tell the world they're the best. [1] 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2uDyzxP6g

davidw 4y ago
I should have specified that I'm not really talking about all the amazing historic places that Italy has. That makes perfect sense. It's the random things like this singing that have me scratching my head.

progre 4y ago

Italy are marketing themselves as "Cultural Superpower" since a few years. Having lots of UNESCO things plays in to that I guess? But apart from the marketing, Italy really has a lot of stuff worth protecting.

foul 4y ago
I think Italy's leaders and cultural champions' aim is to regard Italy as "The cultural backbone of the world", because to be a superpower you have to lead others... They mostly try to market Italian landmarks and folklore as an entitlement to get funds from cultural endeavours.
ethbr0 4y ago
Italian cultural resources >> natural resources Seems fair as a country to say "How can we maximally utilize our cultural resources?" If the UN provides a vehicle with which to do that, they use the vehicle. Gripe about the game, not the good player.

NoZebra120vClip 4y ago

I am not sure there is any reason to single out Italy here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_UNESCO_Intangible_cultural_heritage_(en).png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_UNESCO_Intang... The interesting parts are the non-parties, such as the British Empire, joined by Russia, the United States, Somalia, et. al. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_i... Indicates that Italy has the most (58) World Heritage Sites, above China (56), so considering landmass, I suppose that's a lot.

illiarian 4y ago

A friend of mine is fascinated with what he calls "the marketing prowess of the Italians". There are so many things (especially food) that Italians have basically taken over in the world's psyche (well, Western world).

leokennis 4y ago

I think https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_traditional_specialities_in_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_t... is also related to this. Basically, your "thing" (a style of song, a method of making cheese") gets a stamp and then people cannot mess with it. As a "consumer", I get some form of quality assurance that the UNSECO site will be well maintained, that my Parmigiano Reggiano is not some cheap knock off. It's a bit like someone with a RHCSA certification, or an MFI certified Apple accessory.

epolanski 4y ago
> that my Parmigiano Reggiano is not some cheap knock off In US it probably is[1] as US does not recognize European PDOs on food. You can sell Sammarzano tomatoes without the tomatoes even coming from Italy. This is all political and has roots in the Boeing-Airbus trade dispute. https://www.walmart.com/search?q=parmigiano https://www.walmart.com/search?q=parmigiano
- Bud 4y ago
  [dead]
davidw 4y ago
I get it with regards to an actual, physical site. That makes sense to have some kind of protection. But with things like this kind of singing, what does it really achieve? Do the singers get money to teach it to the next generation or something? When I still lived in Padova, a friend wanted me to translate an application for... I think it was "open source software" to be declared some kind of UNESCo thing, and while I am normally pretty generous with my time, I was just like "open source needs people to work on it, not some kind of UNESCO designation".