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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Dear Italian-Studies Subscribers, I hope the following will be of interest to you: The Passeggiata and Popular Culture in an Italian Town Folklore and the Performance of Modernity Giovanna P. Del Negro An immigrant daughter who returned to her mother's home town, Giovanna Del Negro spent a year doing intensive fieldwork in the homes and public spaces of Sasso. She reveals the diverse reactions that Sassani have to industrialization, changing gender roles, immigration, and the proliferation of the global media. Unlike accounts that focus exclusively on large-scale social forces or universal theories of historical change, this study, set against the backdrop of Italy's mid-1990s corruption scandals, centres on the experiences of ordinary people and the culturally specific ways that modernity reveals itself in a particular place. Del Negro focuses on the passeggiata, and her evocative descriptions of dressing, walking, courting, and socializing in the piazza paint a vivid picture of this event. Sassani pride themselves on their urbane sophistication, only half jokingly referring to their town as "our little Paris." Del Negro shows how different segments of Sassani society (older women and teenage girls, motorbike boys and established professionals) use passeggiata performances to depict themselves as modern, stake their place in the town's collective self-image, and debate the meaning of modernity. Examining everything from Sassani interpretations of tabloid television and soap operas to community games and postcards, Del Negro casts her net wide to illuminate the local culture. Richly sophisticated yet highly accessible, this innovative study speaks to contemporary debates about modernity and globalization. Giovanna P. Del Negro is assistant professor of English at Texas A&M University. £16.95 Paper 0-7735-2739-7 August 2005 200 pages 36 Black& white photographs SPECIAL DISCOUNTED PRICE OF £11.95 to ITALIAN-STUDIES Subscribers Postage and Packing £2.75 To order a copy please contact Marston on 44(0)1235 465500 or email [log in to unmask] or visit our website www.combinedacademic.demon.co.uk (Please quote reference IS66WPPC). Julia Monk Marketing Manager Combined Academic Publishers 48 Baldslow Road Hastings East Sussex TN34 2EY Tel/Fax: 44 (0)1424 436533 Email: [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join italian-studies YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave italian-studies to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies.html