Column: quarreling Italians

You know it, you see them on the street gesturing, they raise their voices and hold each other by the arm. You look around you. Is this normal? Maybe you should go there and ask if you can help? Should you call the police? The fight seems to get worse, but then suddenly they burst into laughter. You breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately there were no injuries.

Arguing in politics

What applies to the Italians on the street, also applies to the Italian parliament. We are all familiar with the films in which one flies at the other. We marvel at that. We cannot imagine that Buma of the CDA would climb over the blue chairs and benches in the House of Representatives to Irrgang of the SP and then sell him a punch. Simply because he interrupts him in the debate or gives an ill-founded opinion. Or simply has a different opinion and is simply not taken seriously as a politician.

On television

You also see it on television on an Italian talk show. The guests don't let each other finish, they are busy and they seem to insult each other for life. Guests get up from their chairs, point at the other while yelling, or walk away from the studio. The hostess of the talk show just can't intervene, no matter how often she tries to put her guests in order.

Vittorio Sgarbi

One often asked for such shows is Vittorio Sgarbi, originally an art historian, but he was also a politician. He has an opinion about everything and believes himself: that is the only correct one! With him on the show, you're guaranteed to have discussion and fuss, something that always does well on TV, of course. That is why he is regularly invited. (The Italian Peter R. de Vries, you could say, ed.)

YouTube is full of videos in which he is terribly angry, walks away angry and insults someone else. Just search for Vittorio Sgarbi, with the extra search term litigation, or 'quarrel'. Or watch the video above this column. Also a good way to work on your Italian swearwords vocabulary.

Dark alley

The way in which Sgarbi rages is so violent that I would be afraid if I ran into him on the street in a dark alley in Utrecht at night. A Dutch child would suffer permanent traumatic damage. A grandmother from Hellevoetsluis would burst into tears, a social worker from Tilburg would spontaneously write a resocialization plan.

Why do Italians seem to argue?

Why do Italians do this? It helps to look at it from the other side. To an Italian, a Dutchman does not seem at all concerned with his arguments when he is discussing. We seem to have no heart for him.

An Italian shows his commitment to a subject through gestures and raising his voice. It's true: Vittorio Sgarbi is an outlier in this category. But there are many Italians who think this is wonderful, who completely understand him and perhaps also voted for him for these reasons.

No worries!

Do you see a group of Italians arguing in the street and it seems to be getting quite heated? Don't worry so much. There is a good chance that they are friends who passionately support their arguments in the discussion.