Grammatica italiana: storia linguistica e produzione libraria fra Italia e Svizzera

The workshop addresses the study of Italian grammar and grammatical texts between Switzerland and Italy, elaborating both on theoretical and applied research questions. In particular, the intention is to approach the main topics from a twofold perspective:

1. diachronic change of grammatical theory

2. synchronic and sociolinguistic variation of grammatical rules

Therefore, the workshop takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Italian grammar and grammatical texts between Switzerland and Italy. There is also an interest in the production of grammar textbooks, both historical and contemporary. A specific session of the workshop, indeed, explores an important – but often omitted – dimension of Italian grammar: the book, as the material medium for the codification, transmission and teaching of a language.

The main theoretical objectives of the workshop are to show how grammatical rules are not monolithic and unchanging entities, as well as to show how the study of language coding in the past is useful for the construction of grammatical rules and texts in the present.

Furthermore, the workshop wants to emphasize the scientific and methodological value of the researches carried on in Switzerland on the history of Italian grammar and the teaching of Italian L1, strengthening the position of the USI and the Istituto di Studi Italiani (ISI) within the international scientific landscape of Italian linguistics. Not less important, the aim is to foster the access to the library resources of the Cantonal Library and the University Library of Lugano by Swiss and foreign researchers.

The workshop contemplates a reasoned combination between lectiones magistrales – wich address crucial and central questions in the field – and short presentations, which concentrate on more specific topics and key studies. Each talk is followed by a discussion, ensuring the possibility of dialogue between younger and more experienced scholars, coming both from Switzerland and abroad. Moreover, the workshop is recognized as professional continuing education for professors of middle and high school from Cantone Ticino.

The provision of helpful tools for local school teachers is one of the expected results of the workshop. The event will also enhance the specific role of the Italian-speaking Switzerland within the scientific and sociocultural debate around one of the national Swiss languages.

Other planned outcomes regard the publication of the workshop proceedings and the creation of a specialized catalogue of the grammatical texts kept at the Cantonal Library of Lugano.