Changing Campanilismo Localism and the Use of Nicknames in a Tuscan Mountain Village Herman Tak

Changing Campanilismo . Localism and the Use of Nicknames in a Tuscan Moun­ tain Village . - Ethnologia Europaea XVIII: 149-160.

Campanilismo is a well-known phenomenon in . An important aspect of this parochialism in a Tuscan mountain village is the idea of being more "civilized" compared with the other surrounding villages, as can be seen in the offensive role of collective nicknames . Campanilismo is a boundary mechanism that is con­ nected with the closeness and commitment between villages. It is not a simple mechanism that makes a distinction between insiders and outsiders but it differ­ entiates them both. Because this closeness and commitment have largely dis­ appeared today, it is logically that a part of its vocabulary, like the collective and personal nicknames, will fade away too.

Herman Tak, Vondelstraat 39, 6512 BB Nijm egen, The Netherlands .

In Italy the strong tie people often have with of a particular cultural tradition (De Pina-Ca­ their place of residence is called campanilismo. bral 1984: 149). A word that refers to the campanile, the civic In this article, I will examine the significance bell tower, which stands in many Central Ital­ of this campanilismo for a Tuscan mountain ian places and is a symbol of independence village. Because this society has undergone a (Bell 1979: 151; Douglass 1984: 1; Pitt-Rivers transformation like so many pastoral and 1971: 30; Silverman 1975: 16). This bond with agrarian societies, I will also show the changes their own community is, as Goethe wrote in his that have taken place in this notion during the Italienische Reise , a form of local patriotism last decades. Campanilismo is not a static con­ (1776/1979 : 73). Campanilismo can be seen as cept, it develops like the whole local commu­ a non-institutionalised and quasi-mystic no­ nity. My working hypothesis here is that cam­ tion that involves the expression of positive panilismo is a boundary mechanism that is sentiments towards one's own community (Co­ strongly connected with the closeness and com­ hen 1977: 107). Their own village is seen as the mitment between villages but also the rela­ centre of the world and is believed to be supe­ tionships within the village play an important rior to the surrounding villages. This paro­ role. After describing the overall changes, I chialism is characteristic of many Mediterra­ shall attempt to analyse the different aspects nean communities. As is the case with so many of the campanilismo in this mountain village, words which are now intrinsic to anthropologi­ such as : being more 'civilized'; collective nick­ cal language, as for example nickname, so­ names; cultural topography; personal nick­ prannome in Italian, the word campanilismo names and the egalitarianism of this mountain originated as a folk concept within the context community.

149 • land, France and Germany and stayed there . The village Migration is for these societies no new phe­ is a nucleated mountain village of nomenon, it has always been an outlet for the 200 inhabitants which lies at 443 meters at the surplus labour, that existed for example after end of a steep road. The peaks of the Apuan demographic growth. The migration after the Alps rise above the village like dark perpetual Second World War was of a different order. In clouds. The area is called , an old en­ this period the strong economic development, clave of the grand ducy of , which con­ particularly in North and Central Italy, pro­ sists of a ten kilometre long coastal strip and a vided for employment in the cities and indus­ part of the Apuan Alps . The coastal strip is trial centres, like the one in the coastal area of urbanized near the Riviera della Versilia . Be­ Versilia. This migration of a part of the moun­ tween that and the mountains there are many tain population should not be explained by olivegroves and vineyards. At the foot of these 'push-pull ' factors only . MacDonald writes that Alps there are countless marble working­ migration is one of the reactions of a rural places, with as their centre . The population to poverty, in which the prospect of stones that are tooled here come from the mar­ some development plays an important role ble-quarries that lie near some mountain tops. (1963: 74). The prospects for agriculture were The municipality of Stazzema lies in this poor in the mountains ofVersilia after the war . mountain area which is called High Versilia. In Mechanization was nearly impossible, thanks contrast to the other three municipalities of to the terrace cultivation and the small frag­ Versilia, the marble industry has played a sub­ mented and dispersed plots. This resulted in ordinate part in Stazzema (Paolicchi 1982: local agriculture being placed in an extremely 572). Until the fifties there was an agrarian unfavourable position in relation to the ex­ pastoral society close to an industrial urban­ panding market. High Versilia bears a strong ized area . Most of the working population were resemblance to the Alpine area, about which peasants. There were no big landowners and MacDonald has written, where the equality of practically no tenants. The plots were small, poverty and the absence of big landowners lead fragmented and dispersed. Besides peasants to migration (1963 : 70- 71). Or, as an ex-shep­ there were some artisans and small business­ herd from Stazzema said: "there was enough men. food but what was lacking was money". This After the fifties the village society under­ was the reason for leaving the agrarian pastor­ went a considerable transformation. Today al sector in large numbers. there are hardly any people working in the In addition to the decline of agriculture and village. Except for some shopkeepers most of migration , the accessibility of the mountain the Stazzemesi are workers in the coastal area, villages played a part in the development of and like before there is no sharp social strat­ this area. Many of the modern roads were built ification. Stazzema has changed from an agrar­ in the fifties and sixties. There was already a ian pastoral community into a commuter vil­ road to Stazzema, the principal town but access lage. to other mountain villages such as Pomezzano An important aspect of this transformation and Farnocchia was by unpaved, so-called, mu­ is the migration of many inhabitants. In the leteer paths. Through the construction of these early sixties about 450 people lived in Staz­ roads such villages have become more acces­ zema, today there are less than 200 inhabit­ sible and it has made commuting easier . ants . Not only in Stazzema but in all the other All these developments have also led to vi­ villages of High Versilia, people left . The popu­ sual changes . Many of the former meadows are lation of this mountain municipality has been now covered with undergrowth. The chestnut halved since the Second World War. Many woods, once an important food supply, are no people migrated to the coastal area of Ver­ longer kept in order and the chestnuts are not silia, others went to the industrial areas of gathered anymore. Terraces have fallen into Milan, Genoa or, as foreign workers, to Switzer- disrepair, farming land has disappeared, and

150 the cottages where the peasant stayed during have with their village. Sydel Silverman writes the harvest are in ruins. Today the village ter­ that in Central Italy campanilismo takes on to ritory is largely reduced to the nucleated vil­ a large extent, the form of pride, with a little lage. Together with this shift, a large part of cynicism, in their own civilization, compared the vocabulary to denote the different parts with other places of compatible size. This as­ and areas of the immediate vicinity has dis­ pect should be lacking in the campanilismo of appeared. In this agrarian pastoral mountain Southern Italy, which has, generally, a defen­ society each plot, each stretch of woods and sive disdain of other communities. According to 1 pasture had a name . You cannot find these Silverman it was the landowners who estab­ names on any map, and today they are mean­ lished the community civilization, with their ingless to the village youth. Also inside the way ofliving and material contributions (1968: village the marks of decline are visible. Some of 17). the houses of migrants that for all sorts of In Stazzema there were no large landown­ reasons did not find new occupants, are ruins ers, there was a family that owned some mar­ now. ble quarries, but being more ahead was espe­ After the Second World War Stazzema did cially connected with the relationship between not only lose a number of her inhabitants but the village and the Italian state. The presence also her service function within the municipal­ of the public institutions and the probable ex­ ity. The town hall and the post office were istence of a small group of civil servants and a transferred to the lower but more centrally doctor, gave the village prestige as a centre of situated settlement of Pontestazzemese. The information about the outside world. Stazzema medical practice went first, the baker and was, like her inhabitants said: "a village that butcher followed. Obviously, all these devel­ everyone knew". This was true, because the opments had considerable consequences for the other inhabitants of the municipality were village community. forced to come to the village for some of their business. That the Stazzemesi felt superior was recognized in one of their collective nick­ More 'civilized' names, which is Gentilomini, gentlemen or no­ The elderly Stazzemesi look back with some blemen. Like many other nicknames there is nostalgia at the past. In their youth there were some irony in this name because there were no many opportunies for social contacts, such as gentry in Stazzema, and her population did not during the harvest and the maintenance of the deviate much from that of the other mountain chestnut woods; during the veglie, the evening villages. gatherings of families; and during the village The attitude of being more civilized is also festival of Maria Assunta, Assumption, when a expressed in the views Stazzemesi have about flood of people came to Stazzema. Of course it is the neighbouring village, Pomezzana. For­ probably a remembered past, which is idealized merly the Pomezzanini were poor, and today but it is clear that this village community was they are still reserved, afraid of outsiders and entirely different from that of today. Many of furthermore they speak a different dialect. the social possibilities have disappeared to­ These are all characteristics the Stazzemesi do gether with the agrarian sector. In the eyes of not attribute to themselves. A common opinion the Stazzemesi their village was important in was that the people of Pomezzana were stupid. those days. The inhabitants of the other moun­ The collective nickname for the Pomezzanini is tain villages were forced to come to Stazzema Gobbi, which means hunchbacks. They have because the town hall and the post office were this name, according to the Stazzemesi, be­ there. Stazzema, the Stazzemesi said, was cause inbreeding has resulted in a high in­ more ahead, more important than the other cidence of hunchbacks in this village. There villages. are also denigratory stories about their sup­ This idea of being more ahead is an import­ posed stupidity. The owner of the only bar in ant feature of campanilismo, the ties people Stazzema, told me the following almost Deca-

151 meone like anecdote: "Once there was in Po­ Mulina: Carbonai, charcoal producers mezzana a Gobbo who was married and had Palagnana: Fiorentini, Florentines five tall but very honest sons. One day the fa ­ Pomezzana: Gobbi, hunchbacks; Raspai, pro- ther, who was a small person, said to one of his ducers of files and rasps boys who had been troublesome: 'Sit down on Pruna: Burrai, buttermakers; Patatai, ? this chair so I can hit you!' The boy sat down : Gatti, cats and got a hefty blow in his face!'' Santanna: Saltapizzi, men who go from one To give the designation 'silly' to the inhabit­ woman to the other ants of neighbouring villages is often men­ Stazzema: Gentilomini, gentlemen, noblemen tioned in the anthropological literature (Chap­ : Burrai, buttermakers. mann 1971: 150; Cohen 1977: 108; Pitt-Rivers (Cocci 1956: 148-149) 1971: 9-10; Sensi-Isolani 1977: 116). In Staz­ zema not only the Pomezzanini were labelled Notable about this list is that only two villages, stupid, but also the inhabitants of Farnocchia, Basati and Capanzano, which are not located another village that is visible from Stazzema. in the municipality of Stazzema have a nick­ They were called Fagioloni, beans or idiots. name. But both are situated near the munici­ The aspect of pride in their own civilization pal boundary. Therefore, the collective nick­ changes here into the second characteristic of names are limited to the mountain section of campanilismo, that is, the defensive disdain of Versilia, where the agrarian pastoral society other communities . held out the longest. The places that have a nickname are the important villages, the others are hamlets, peripheral villages or Collective nicknames places that have something to do with the in­ In Stazzema the prejudices focus especially on dustrially exploited marble quarries. Pomezzana. Pitt-Rivers has pointed out for An­ Informants from Stazzema mentioned the dalusia, that villages are commonly linked in following collective nicknames, but no one pairs, each one, supposedly, hating its rival knew them all: above all others (1972: 110). If such a system was active in High Versilia is unknown, be­ Alpe della Grotta: Grottaioli , cave-dwellers cause this aspect of campanilismo is too much Basati: Lumaconi, lazy people in decline. But noticeable is the relationship Farnocchia: Fagioloni, beans, idiots; Pozzetto, between Stazzema and Pommezana, a rela­ pool, wallow tionship that to a large extent does not exist Mulina, Ranocchi, frogs, handicapped persons between Stazzema and the other mountain vil­ Pomezzana: Gobbi, hunchbacks lages. For example, the Stazzemesi did not say Pruna en Volegno, Burrai, buttermakers more about Farnocchia than that they were Retignano: Gatti, cats idiots and insane. Stazzema: Gettoloni, lizards; Gentilomini, The defensive and derogatory nature of cam­ gentlemen, noblemen; Schiaccioni, bruised; panilismo is especially expressed in the nick­ Schiaccioni di Faggiuoli, bruised beechnuts. names some of the villages have. Vocabolario Versiliese, a Versilian dictionary that names Besides being ironic, like Gentilomini, the most of the villages and hamlets of the area, nicknames are often insulting, and from that gives the nicknames of thirteen villages: the defensive nature of campanilismo is evi­ dent. The names refer among other things to Basati: Lumaconi, lazy people physical characteristics, like the hunchbacks of Capanzano: Chiorpi , niggards Pomezzana and the handicapped people from Cardoso: Monnai, drunks Mulina. The last mentioned nickname has a Farnocchia: Fagioloni, beans, idiots double meaning because it also refers to the Levigliani: Teste Grosse, big heads, insane but circumstances in which this village is situated. smart Mulina lies low in a narrow valley where it is

152 humid, a nice place for frogs. Also behind the and Retignano, were on the tips of the tongues, nickname Gatti, cats, lies the same sort of ex­ while only a few people knew nicknames of an planation. According to the Stazzemesi, Reti­ other village. This incomplete knowledge of the gnano looks like a cat in the sun. Another part nicknames lexicon points to the decline of its of the nicknames refer to prejudices about the use, but also indicates the small scope people behaviour of people of other villages. Besides had in the pastoral agrarian village commu­ the supposed inbreeding of the Pomezzanini, nity. It was the visible villages of which they the inhabitants of Cardoso were called drunks knew the nicknames; villages they had rela­ and those of Santanna, Saltapizzi, men who go tions with. Collective nicknames define the from one woman to another. To degrade other boundaries between one's own village and the communities is the most striking aspect of surrounding area (Brandes 1975: 146). They campanilismo. distinguish between 'we' Stazzemesi and 'they', There are collective nicknames that attri­ the 'Beans', 'Frogs', 'Cats' and 'Hunchbacks'. bute particular 'qualities' to villages. Like Teste Grosse, insane but smart, for Levigliani, the lazy people of Basati, the misers of Capan­ Cultural topography zano and the drunkards of Cardoso. More over The boundary-maintaining mechanism of col­ there are nicknames that denote the commer­ lective nicknames can be explained for the col­ cial sidelines of some villages (Cole & Wolf lective nickname of the occupants of Alpe della 197 4: 111) Like Burrai, buttermakers, for both Grotta, the Grottaioli. In this case the genesis Pruno as well as Volegno that is situated next is known, in contrast to the other nicknames to Pruno, and Carbonai, charcoal producers for which are very old. In 1911, the late father-in­ Mulina . Pomezzana has, like Mulina, two nick­ law of an informant built a big house at 865 names. The Pomezzanini were besides Gobbi, metres in the forest between Stazzema and also Raspai, this name refers to the iron files Pomezzana, and took up residence with his and rasps that are produced there. Not all the wife and an unmarried brother. In the fifties nicknames can be interpreted, some are un­ they had created a large extended family, but clear, like Pozzetto, pool, in addition to which in the sixties this family broke up and the an informant noted that the Farnocchini were house was sold to the C. A. I., the Italian Al­ mad(= pazzo), and Patatai for which there is pine Club. The area is called Alpe della Grotta, no translation. David Gilmore noted about a name that refers to a small cave that is sit­ nicknames, that there is no need for any con­ uated there. There is nothing there except sensus about them, they can be comic to people chestnuts, brushwood and mountain meadows. in sound, and still have their desired effect The nickname Grottaioli means cave-dwellers, (1982: 690). The same is more or less true of which points out that the name-givers saw this Schiaccioni de Faggiuoli, the bruised beech­ area as uncivilized. According to the informant nuts for the Stazzemesi. The meaning is ob­ who lived a year in this family house after her scure, but this nickname provoked great hilar­ marriage, there was nothing in this place, they ity among the Stazzemesi, who only knew the had to carry everything up hill, and as a vil­ literal meaning and said that it was funny. lager from Stazzema she hated the place. Alpe A striking difference between the nicknames della Grotta did not belong to Stazzema and listed by the Stazzemesi and that of Vocabola­ this was made clear by a denigratory nick­ rio Versiliese is that the dictionary only gives name. one nickname for Stazzema while the Stazze­ In the Mediterranean region there exists be­ mesi knew several. The two lists do not corre­ tween mountains and plains not only geo­ spond precisely. The list of the Stazzemesi is graphical contrasts but also, from time imme­ village centred, and it is likely that there were morial, social and cultural differences. Moun­ many more collective nicknames in High Ver­ tain dwellers, Braudel writes, were looked silia. In Stazzema the nicknames of the visible upon as inferior by the citizens (1972: 44-47). villages, like Pomezzana, Farnochia, Mulina In Italy we find this attitude already developed

153 in the fifteenth century expressing itself in Apuan Alps. Because, according to campani­ coarse stories, like those of Bandello and Pog­ lismo, one compares one's own village with gio the Florentine, in which peasants and other places of comparable size. The Stazze­ mountain dwellers are satirized for their fool­ mesi know very well that there is a difference ishness. Here we can speak of a cultural topog­ between High Versilia and the coastal area raphy, the farther from the cities, the source of and that this militates against the uplands. civilization in Italy and the Mediterranean, the Like somebody in Stazzema said: "Someone more uncivilized . 'Baixar sempre, mountar from below doesn't want to live here". no', 'always go down, never go up', says a Cata­ lan proverb (1972: 44). This cultural topog­ raphy also applies to the mountains of Versilia Closeness and commitment because here the notion of the higher the more Another way in which the defensive mech­ uncivilized counts too. Thus the afore men­ anism of campanilismo was expressed, was the tioned informant did not want to live in the throwing of stones by the male village youth at house of her in-laws in Alpe della Grotta. This potential boyfriends from other villages. In family house was, according to her, situated Stazzema this took place till the end of the too far from Stazzema and there was nothing fifties. According to an informant who was there. In High Versilia there are hardly any 'stoned' himself, this existed in Pomezzana till family houses outside the nucleated villages. the sixties. The question is if this is due to the need for All these manifestations of campanilismo protection, perhaps it was for safety from ban­ did not mean that there were no personal rela­ dits or wild animals, or perhaps it is connected tions between the villages . On the contrary, with the attribution of more civilization to the there were many contacts between Stazzema villages then to the surrounding countryside and Pomezzana. Shepherds from both villages (Christian 1972: 18). met each other when going up and down with This cultural dichotomy between high and their flocks. Stazzemesi married Pomezzanini, low also had its repercussion in the campani­ and the people from all the mountain villages lismo of Stazzema, namely in the attitude the and hamlets came to Stazzema for the post Stazzemesi had in relation to the other vil­ office and town hall. It was no isolation but lages. Stazzema (443 m) was the centre of the closeness and commitment that made bounda­ municipality and a link with the outside world, ries necessary if these villages wanted to dis­ thanks to the presence of some public institu­ tinguish themselves. These relations provided tions . For the Stazzemesi the visible villages of the conditions for attributing nicknames, comparable size, like Pomezzana (597 m) and which specified the differences between vil­ Farnocchia (652 m), were probably less civi­ lages and even aggravated them because of lized because they were situated higher and their often insulting nature . were, because of the absence of passable roads, For the Stazzemesi campanilismo means to difficult to reach. The attitude of the Stazze­ defend their own village and to stand up for mesi in this was comparable to that of city their way ofliving. They said that they protect dwellers to mountain dwellers, they considered the village against outsiders, especially when them as silly. This is expressed in the anec­ these outsiders should bring unrest. The Staz­ dotes about the Pomezzanini and also in the zemesi called themselves campanilistic, but use of collective nicknames. The Farnocchini they did not attribute this feature to the people were called idiots and the Pomezzanini hunch­ of the other mountain villages. From this backs. Their hunchbackness must have been speaks a still powerful village orientation, the result of inbreeding, they said, and that is through which people can not place themselves certainly not a sign of civilization. in someone else's position. But it is especially The Stazzemesi do not compare themselves the old Stazzemesi who stand up for their vil­ with the people of and Pietrasanta, lage. For the young Stazzemesi, and by young two much bigger places at the foot of the they mean even fifty years old, it is less import-

154 ant. It is likely that the original antagonism but also its 'anti -civilization' . Being more civi­ between villages was already on the wane in lized was an aspect of campanilismo. Thanks their youth (Pitt-Rivers 1971: 12, 30). The to the progress and absorption of the mountain present youth of the mountain villages is villages into the national society, there has hardly ever thrown into each other's company. been a levelling out of the villages. Stazzema is They have cars, and work and have their not anymore the centre of the municipality and amusement in the coastal region. not more ahead than the others, except per­ Today the strong contrast between the com­ haps for Pomezzana which has experienced a munities has disappeared. The collective nick­ somewhat slower development. names are part of a somewhat archaic vocabu­ Instead of satirizing this logging behind of lary, about which the Stazzemesi felt a little Pomezzana, according to the spirit of campani­ embarrassed. In Stazzema there is told now lismo , or putting it forward as a proof of their and then a corny joke about the Pomezzanini stupidity, or even attributing it to their hunch­ and Gobbo still is a term of abuse. Alpe della backness, they approached it positively. This Grotta has no permanent occupants anymore, appreciation is different from the revaluation the Grottaioli are dead, or live again in Staz­ of traditional values about which Sydel Silver­ zema or in Pietrasanta or Genoa, both places man has written in Three Bells of Civilization . where this nickname has no meaning. The There it was the youth that was trying to bring main reason for the disappearance of the dis­ about revival of their own hill town (1975: 223- crepancies between the villages, is, to a large 224). This phenomenon in Stazzema needs an­ extent that the closeness and commitment other interpretation. Here the Pomezzanini have disappeared. The focus of the social rela­ were attributed with the original qualities of tions has changed. Thanks to the ruin of the Stazzema. It was an appreciation of their own agrarian society, the disappearance of the community that had largely disappeared. shepherds with their flocks and the relocation Therefore, it can be seen as a reaction to the of the public institutions, there are hardly any developments that took place, through which contacts between villages. The mountain these villages are now interchangeable. Staz­ dwellers are directed towards the urbanized zemesi regret that Pomezzana has changed coastal area, the real 'civilized' world. The in­ too: "Today it is like here, they changed gener­ habitants of High Versilia hardly visit each ation and now they are also ready to leave". The other's villages. If the communication between generation of peasants and shepherds doesn't villages disappears then it is understandable exist anymore and the way back looks closed that the concepts by which it was guided fade forever . Pomezzana as it was in the past, has away too. disappeared. "The Pomezzanini were a race! The relations between Stazzema and her ri­ Now they are all bastards," somebody said, the val Pomezzana have changed. Both villages lie appreciation was only temporary. today at the end of a road, on different moun­ tainsides . In the process of change there has been a temporary shift in the appreciation for Personal nicknames the Pomezzanini. Next to the stereotypical bi­ Not only the relations between villages have ases there were also some positive sounds audi­ changed but also the relations within the vil­ ble. Some Stazzemesi had a bit of admiration of lage community of Stazzema, which is ex­ the inhabitants of Pomezzana. Because of this pressed in the disappearance of personal nick­ firmness, fewer people have emigrated from names. These nicknames were related to indi­ this village and it is therefore bigger than Staz­ viduals. Inherited nicknames, like there are in zema today. Spain and Portugal do not exist in High Versi­ It is remarkable that precisely Pomezzana, lia 2 (Barrett 1978: 94; Brandes 1975: 140; Gil­ in spite of their supposed difference, attracted more 1982: 689; de Pina-Cabral 1984: 149). In such admiration . This proves not only the Stazzema examples of personal nicknames weakness of the contemporary campanilismo, were: Giambacorta, someone with short legs,

155 Baffu, moustache, Trucco, a man who distorts personal nicknames is that of David Gilmore, things, Lardino, someone who is fat, Tafano, who argues that: 'too much emphasis has been hornet or an intrusive person, and Morte­ placed on the literal meaning of nicknames and briaca, stronger than death. Most of the bearer not enough on how the expressions are used' were dead, one man in the village was some­ (1982: 687) . Nicknames are a form of verbal times called Patatino, a little bit stupid, but aggression, their use is, in a Freudian explana­ that was, according to an informant, not very tion, a successful release of repressed feelings sympathetic. There were no new names, ex­ of hostility. They are rarely used face-to-face cept that I was called the student . unless the intention is aggressive . Gilmore Vocabolario Versiliese cites personal nick­ calls them secret weapons, like gossip (1982: names for all the municipalities of Versilia 695---696). The bearers oppose the use of the (1956: 146-147). These nicknames are of the nickname, they want to be accepted on their same order as those from Stazzema. Some of own terms, called by their given name (Chris­ the nicknames from the dictionary refer to old tian 1972: 26). 'The family-derived name is an trades, like Cancino, tinker , others refer to inseperable , integral component of self-iden­ physical characteristics like Bibino, little one, tity and self-perception ', Gilmore writes, and and Nasino, small nose. But most of the per­ 'the imposition of the unwanted nickname by sonal nicknames poke fun at a person's charac­ the community represents an interference ter, like Dragone, dragon, someone who is with the autonomy of the individual' (1982: lucky, Macacche, a little bit crazy, or Sculato, 697). bare bum, someone who has been out of luck. Gilmore 's analysis clarifies the collective In the anthropological literature about nick­ nicknames too. The nicknames for villages are names it is pointed out that personal nick­ used in the same way as the personal nick­ names are an effective community mechanism names, but there are some differences. They for maintaining social control . Through nick­ can be used for a whole village, like Gobbi for names certain behaviour can be satirized. Like Pomezzana, but also for one person, a Gobbo, the Stazzemesi said, nicknames were oflaugh­ hunchback, from Pomezzana. Moreover, the ing at. Besides that, they are a useful way of collective nicknames are less perishable than identifying people (Barrett 1978: 105; Brandes the personal ones (de Pina-Cabral 1984: 150), 1975: 146; Pitt-Rivers 1971 : 161-169) . In because they are by definition attributed to mountain villages, like Stazzema, the same those who are born in a certain village . It looks surnames are prevalent. as though collective nicknames are even more Eugene Cohen stressed the boundary-main­ aggressive than personal nicknames because taining functions of personal nicknames and they are a component of campanilismo and are their contribution to the community socio-cen­ an outstanding example of the discrepancy be­ trism or campanilismo. Nicknames cross fam­ tween villages. If the imposition of a personal ily boundaries, he writes, and define persons as nickname is an interference in one's own au­ members of the community, within which the tonomy, then the use of a collective nickname, nicknames only have a meaning. Therefore, for someone of another village, is a form of their use provides a means of identifying out­ depersonalizing, because only the prejudices of siders and insiders. Nicknames operate as a whole village are ascribed to him . boundary-defining and boundary-maintaining mechanisms (1977: 110-111). Cohen means personal nicknames and does not mention col­ The disappearance of personal lective nicknames . But in High Versilia it is nicknames collective nicknaming that defines the bound­ Personal nicknames were part of the communi­ ary mechanism of campanilismo , and probably cation and social networks inside the village in a more aggressive way than personal nick­ community , the disappearance of them is a naming. consequence of the changes in this community. A different approach to this phenomenon of The possibilities for social contacts have de-

156 creased in Stazzema since the fifties. Today the hostility, they are used by one's own family, Stazzemesi watch television and do not gather they are not really funny and surely not in­ for the veglie, the evening meetings of families. sulting. In short they lack the nature of nick­ Personal nicknames serve within the village names. community, outside they have no meaning. The Stazzemesi work in the coastal area and their village has changed from an agrarian­ An egalitarian community? pastoral into a commuter village, that is nearly Like many mountain communities Stazzema empty during the day. Thanks to the absorb­ has an egalitarian character but it is not there­ tion of this mountain community into the na­ fore an egalitarian community, and it remains tional society the personal nicknames have dis­ to be seen whether it ever was like that. Ac­ appeared. In contact with the government in­ cording to Stazzemesi everyone in the village stitutions and in their work they will be was equal, somebody called the village one big referred to by their family names and sur­ family. Davis says in his study People of the names. Mediterranean, that: 'we are all equal here' It is possible that beside these changes in seem to be the universal greeting of mountain social relations, another aspect plays a part in villagers to anthropologists. What they mean the disappearance of the nicknames. Brandes is, vis-a-vis the rest we are equally excluded. points out in an arcticle about nicknaming in a Mountain villages are absorbed in the national Spanish village, that a small sized and egal­ hierarchy of power, at the lowest level, they do itarian community precludes people openly not have any power or influence. But that does calling one another by nicknames. According not mean that there are no differences within to him a community of 500 inhabitants or so the village, such as in the amount ofland held, would be the lowest limit for this custom (1975: the size and fittings of the houses, the earning 144-145). Stazzema saw in a few decades its capacity of the household heads. There is in population halved. Today there are only 200 these mountain villages, as everywhere, econ­ inhabitants , not enough according to Brandes omic an social differentiation (1977: 71; 80). I for the custom of personal nicknames, espe­ think that Davis' ideas are correct, but what he cially when these nicknames have a degrading forgets is the difference between ideology and nature and when the community solidarity de­ reality . The point here is not the actual equal­ pends on all treating their fellow-villagers as ity but as Pitt-Rivers says, an 'ideal' feeling , equals (1975: 145). this feeling has to do with the essential or basic The egalitarian character of Stazzema is ex­ values of the village, namely equality in the pressed in the custom of using Christian sense that everyone who is borne in the same names. Villagers old and young usually ad­ place is, by nature, equal (1971: 49). From this dress one another by first names. Often these point of view the notion of equality between names are transformed or shortened, like Pie­ the villagers, is an ideology that ties them to tro into Pie and Luigi to Lubigi. Through this their village, for as far as that is possible . The the bearers are easier to identify, especially equality reinforces the 'we' feelings of the Staz­ when there are people with the same surname, zemesi. for example there is a Mario and a Mariolino in Of course there were and are differences Stazzema. Eugene Cohen calls these names in Stazzema. Till the fifties there probably transformations also nicknames, but he has lived some civil servants in the village, and the picture wrong in this case (1977: 104). there lived a family in the village that had Shortenings of first names is very usual in some quarries. Together they must have Italy, Giovanni is transformed into Gianni or formed the top of the village hierarchy. Be­ Nanni, and Guisepp e into Beppe. Of course tween peasants there were differences too. One there are local differences but that does not family was less poor, had a little bit more soil mean that they ar e nicknames, soprannomi. than the other. But to the majority applied, as They are used in front of a person without any one informant said: "I am nothing, you are

11 Ethnologia Europaea XVJll,2 157 nothing and he is a little bit better", namely anecdotes, personal nicknames and the egal­ small differences. itarian character of the village community. Through the integration of the village into Campanilismo, is a boundary mechanism that the national society, a process which began protects the village community against a sup­ much earlier but was accelerated after the posed hostile external world. This world in­ war, the village community changed. The pov­ cludes especially the surrounding area. The erty disappeared together with the agriculture most obviously conclusion is that campani­ and many left their villages, like the family lismo is a mechanism that makes a distinction who owned the marble quarries. Most of those between insiders and outsiders. This conclu­ who stayed behind found work in the coastal sion is certainly not inaccurate but somewhat area . Today the population of Stazzema be­ superficial. The insiders as well as the out­ longs to the working class and this is at the low siders are differentiated. Here we are faced level to which Davis points. But class is not a with the problem of names. This can be made local notion. The contemporary equality is the clear when we depart from the individual. A result of these developments. Of course there person had in this mountain community sev­ are differences in Stazzema, the possession of eral names, by which he can be referred to and soil is nearly worthless today, the possession of they form a part of his identity (Gilmore 1984: houses is not and there are differences in the 696--698). First of all there are the family village. Furthermore the local barkeeper has name and the given name, both given at birth. many possibilities, which he does not use, be­ The given name can be transformed for the cause he has most of the villages licences. But purpose of distinguishing between the same such differences do not lead to sharp strat­ name bearers, or out of habit like Giuseppe is ification and are not translated in different life­ usually called Beppe in Italy. In the pastoral styles. The uniformity of the people is probably agrarian mountain community it was possible characteristic of such mountain communities that an individual got a nickname which (Christian 1972: 19), contrary to the agrotowns served other purposes than mere identifica­ of Southern Italy which are distinguished by a tion. Nicknames could satirize a persons beha­ strong social stratification (Douglass 1984: 12) viour, physical qualities, and so on. This nick­ and where the differences are more pregnant name was an affront, known to the bearer, but and expressed in ostentation. This is absent in mostly used behind his back and only under­ a mountain community like Stazzema where standable to insiders . Besides these different possible differences are not expressed. names the individual got at birth the collective This egalitarian feeling, the equality of all nickname of the village too. Within the village villagers, is even today a unifying factor. Be­ community this nickname was not used, every­ cause many aspects of campanilismo have dis­ one knew this name but did not take it seri­ appeared, this feeling is an important mech­ ously. An informant who was an ex-Grottaiolo, anism that binds the villagers to their village , cave-dweller, added merlo, sly fox, to it. But and reinforce the 'we' feeling. Everyone who outside the village in the surrounding area the lives in Stazzema is in principle equal. This collective nickname is insulting, like the per­ 'egalitarism' is an ideology of equality and that sonal nickname. It has a denigratory function is something different as the 'Hello, we are all that in extreme tends towards depersonaliza­ equal here' at which Davis pokes fun. tion, although one must not forget the in­ tended drollery of nicknames . The collective nickname has a meaning that varies, from ex­ Conclusions treme offense to none, because outside High Campanilismo is a complex phenomenon. In Versilia they don't mean anything. Even in Stazzema it had different aspects, such as be­ these mountains their power varies. It looks as ing more 'civilized' which was also connected though villagers nicknamed a person from a with the cultural topography of high and low; rival village in an offending way while towards the use of collective nicknames, denigrating the others they were more friendly and vice

158 versa because others, in their turn, were more preoccupied with their own rivals. The relation Notes with the 'real' outside world is that of high and This paper is based on research carried out in the low, for a townsman the mountain dweller is a last three months of 1984. I am most grateful to Henk Driessen and Anton Blok for their helpful sug­ bumpkin. Therefore, a second form of campa­ gestions . Peta Spierings helped improve the English nilismo, can be observed namely that of High text, for which I thank her. Versilia by which mountain dwellers defend their way of living against outsiders. 1. Christian writes about the Nansa Valley in north­ ern Spain: "Each field, each barn, each path, each In High Versilia an individual could have resting place, each prominent stone, each knoll, eight sorts of names, depending on the context each spring, and of course each peak and saddle in in which he is addressed. For example, some­ the village territory has a name. A survey of such one had as family name, Gherardi and as given names in one locality in Astrurias turned up 600 name Pietro, that was shortened into Pie. His names" (1972: 22-23) . 2. Cohen does not mention inherited nicknames for villagers gave him also the personal nickname a Southern Tuscan village either (1977: 104---105). Sculato. In addition to being a Pomezzanino, inhabitant of the village Pomezzana, he was also a Gobbo, bearer of the collective nick­ References name. He probably saw himself as a mountain Barrett, R. A. 1978: Village Modernization and dweller, a Versilieso, but for a townsman he Changing Nicknaming Practices in Northern was a bumpkin. Spain . In: Journal of Anthropology 34: 92-108. Bell, R. M. 1979: Fate and Honor, Family and Vil­ Campanilismo contained a differentiated se­ lage: Demographic and Cultural Chang e in Rural quence of personal names. Just as the variety Italy since 1800. Chicago. of names to denote the different parts and Brandes, S. H. 1975: The Structural and Demog­ areas of the immediate vicinity has largely dis­ raphic Implication of Nicknames in Navanogal appeared, this sequence of names is partially Spain. In: American Ethnologist, vol. 2: 138-148. Braudel, Fernand 1972: The Mediterranean and the fading away. The personal nicknames disap­ Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Lon­ peared first and the collective nicknames are don. following . Logically, because the pastoral Chapman, Charlotte, Gower 1971: Milocca : a Sici­ agrarian society does not exist anymore and so lian Village. . Christian, William, A. 1972: Person and God in a the vocabulary and its meaning will disappear Spanish Valley. New York. too. The internal village community has Cocci, Gilberto 1956 : Vocabolario Versilies e. Firenze. changed and the closeness and commitment Cohen, Eugene N. 1977: Nicknames, Social Bounda­ between the mountain villages has vanished. ries and Community in an Italian Village. In: In­ There are no family gatherings anymore, the ternational Journal of Contemporary Sociology , vol. 14, no. 1-2: 102-113. mountain dwellers work in the coastal area Cole, John, W. & Wolf, Eric, R. 1974: The Hidden and the yearly festival of the village saint, once Frontier. Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Val­ a vehicle of local sentiments (Driessen 1985: ley. New York. 16; Silverman 1975: 151), has lost its meaning. Davis, John 1977: People of the Mediterranean. An Essay in Comparative Social Anthropology. Lon­ People do not visit each others villages any­ don. more. To the Stazzemesi, especially the older Douglass, William, A. 1984: Emigration in a South ones, campanilismo still means defending their Italian Town. An Anthropological History. New village and standing up for their way of living Brunswick. but the original basis, the envy between vil­ Driessen, Henk 1985: Heiligen, maraboets en volge­ lingen: vergelijkende notities over een cultureel lages, is gone. Today the mountain villages are complex in het westelijke Mediterrane gebied. In: interchangeable. Stazzema is not anymore the Jansen, Willy (ed.): Locale Islam. Muiderberg: centre of the municipality but lies, like Pomez­ 13-26. zana high in the Apuan Alps at the end of the Gilmore, David 1982: Some Notes on Community Nicknaming in Spain. In: Man 17: 686--7 00. road . Goethe, Johann Wolfgang, 1776/1979: Italienische Reise. Berlin. MacDonald, J. S. 1963: Agricultural Organization,

11• 159 • Migration and Labour Militancy in Rural Italy. In: Sensi-Isolani, Paola 1977: Andretta: an Emigrant The Economic Hi story Review 16: 61-75. Village . Berkeley. Paolicchi, Constantino 1981: I Paesi della Pietra Pie­ Silverman, Sydel 1968: Agricultural Organization, gata . Marina di . Social Structures , and Values in Italy . Amoral Pina-Cabral, Joao, de 1984: Nicknames and the Ex­ Familism Reconsidered. In : American Anthropol­ perience of Community. In: Man 19: 148-150 . ogist 70: 1-20. Pitt-Rivers, Julian A. 1971: The People of the Sierra. Silverman , Sydel 1975: Thr ee Bells of Civilization. Chicago. The Life in an Italian Hill Town. New York.

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