Hello there all!
Only just ten years ago Italian people knew little about the Halloween holiday; for most, it was just a strange American feast, something like an Anglo-Saxon carnival. Nowadays, through the influence of movies and marketing, it is popular in Italy as well. Quite a few Italian kids go trick-or-treating from door to door, even if they are still met with mixed reactions; some are not fully updated on the new tradition and do not know what to do with the group of masked kids standing on their doorstep, while others are abreast with the times and are on standby with various treats.
We don’t really understand the tradition, but nobody complains too much about it. Although it does not have any strong meaning for us, it is an excuse to have fun. We don’t yet take it seriously, but slowly, as there are a lot of masked parties and great fun, I think its popularity will continue to grow and this holiday might become a bigger part of Italian culture.
But what is Halloween actually a celebration of? It seems to be a holiday that was invented in America, but it has far deeper roots. Halloween was actually originally born in Europe. Only in the 19th century, immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought their customs with them from their homelands, and kept them alive in America.
On Monday we’re going to debate whether Halloween should be imported to and celebrated in Italy. As member of group G I would be supposed to have arguments for the Halloween celebration in our country. I must admit it, it took me quite a lot of time to find by myself some good motives for the introduction of this holiday; so I decided to search the Internet for more reliable information and I came up with some interesting statistics for the economy.
In the Italian on-line newspaper Il Messaggero the Coldiretti farmers’ union said that the growing popularity in Italy of the American Halloween celebration has proved to be a boon for Italian farmers, who increased their pumpkin production and variety to meet demand; they have actually seen a significant increase in the production of ornamental pumpkins and those for size competition. I found out Italy produces some 60 million kg of pumpkins a year, especially in the northern regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, as well as in Campania in the south. What is more, according to the consumer group Codacons some 8 million Italians celebrated Halloween this year, spending around 255 million euros, while according to the agency of Telefono Blu 190 million euros were spent on masks and fancy dress and 140 million euros on organized parties.
Without a doubt, there are a lot of commercial interests, and corporations didn’t think twice about trying to graft an American tradition onto a society already extremely americanized. Halloween could be really important to the economic growth of Italy.
As you’ve probably understood, my point of view is different from what I should defend in class on Monday. Personally, I believe Halloween has been artificially imported into Italy, and I don’t like artificially imported traditions. I think we don’t have the cultural backbone to support it. I might sound narrow-minded, but I think traditions should be created the way they should be, by doing something because it has existed for a long time among a particular community.
Nevertheless.....
In the Italian on-line newspaper Il Messaggero the Coldiretti farmers’ union said that the growing popularity in Italy of the American Halloween celebration has proved to be a boon for Italian farmers, who increased their pumpkin production and variety to meet demand; they have actually seen a significant increase in the production of ornamental pumpkins and those for size competition. I found out Italy produces some 60 million kg of pumpkins a year, especially in the northern regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, as well as in Campania in the south. What is more, according to the consumer group Codacons some 8 million Italians celebrated Halloween this year, spending around 255 million euros, while according to the agency of Telefono Blu 190 million euros were spent on masks and fancy dress and 140 million euros on organized parties.
Without a doubt, there are a lot of commercial interests, and corporations didn’t think twice about trying to graft an American tradition onto a society already extremely americanized. Halloween could be really important to the economic growth of Italy.
As you’ve probably understood, my point of view is different from what I should defend in class on Monday. Personally, I believe Halloween has been artificially imported into Italy, and I don’t like artificially imported traditions. I think we don’t have the cultural backbone to support it. I might sound narrow-minded, but I think traditions should be created the way they should be, by doing something because it has existed for a long time among a particular community.
Nevertheless.....
Happy Halloween!
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