Italian Society & Culture

Italian Society & Culture

Italian Family Values

. The family is the centre of the social structure and provides a stabilizing influence for its members.
. In the north, generally only the nuclear family lives together; while in the south, the extended family often resides together in one house.
. The family provides both emotional and financial support to its members.

Italian Style

. Appearances matter in Italy.
. The way you dress can indicate your social status, your family's background, and your education level.
. First impressions are lasting impressions in Italy.
. The concept of 'bella figura' or good image is important to Italians.
. They unconsciously assess another person's age and social standing in the first few seconds of meeting them, often before any words are exchanged.
. Clothes are important to Italians.
. They are extremely fashion conscious and judge people on their appearance.
. You will be judged on your clothes, shoes, accessories and the way you carry yourself.
. Bella figura is more than dressing well. It extends to the aura your project too - i.e. confidence, style, demeanour, etc.

Catholicism

. The primary religion in Italy is Roman Catholic.
. There are more Catholic churches per capita in Italy than in any other country.
. Although church attendance is relatively low, the influence of the church is still high.
. Many office buildings will have a cross or a religious statue in the lobby.
. Each day of the year has at least one patron saint associated with it.
. Children are named for a particular saint and celebrate their saint's day as if it were their own birthday.
. Each trade and profession has a patron saint.
. The church promulgates hierarchy, which can be seen in all Italian relationships.
. They respect and defer to those who are older, those who have achieved a level of business success, and those who come from well-connected families


Etiquette & Customs in Italy
Meeting Etiquette

. Greetings are enthusiastic yet rather formal.
. The usual handshake with direct eye contact and a smile suffices between strangers.
. Once a relationship develops, air-kissing on both cheeks, starting with the left is often added as well as a pat on the back between men.
. Wait until invited to move to a first name basis.
. Italians are guided by first impressions, so it is important that you demonstrate propriety and respect when greeting people, especially when meeting them for the first time.
. Many Italians use calling cards in social situations. These are slightly larger than traditional business cards and include the person's name, address, title or academic honours, and their telephone number.
. If you are staying in Italy for an extended period of time, it is a good idea to have calling cards made. Never give your business card in lieu of a calling card in a social situation.

Gift Giving Etiquette

. Do not give chrysanthemums as they are used at funerals.
. Do not give red flowers as they indicate secrecy.
. Do not give yellow flowers as they indicate jealousy
. If you bring wine, make sure it is a good vintage. Quality, rather than quantity, is important.
. Do not wrap gifts in black, as is traditionally a mourning colour.
. Do not wrap gifts in purple, as it is a symbol of bad luck.
. Gifts are usually opened when received.

Dining Etiquette

If invited to an Italian house:
. If an invitation says the dress is informal, wear stylish clothes that are still rather formal, i.e., jacket and tie for men and an elegant dress for women.
. Punctuality is not mandatory. You may arrive between 15 minutes late if invited to dinner and up to 30 minutes late if invited to a party.
. If you are invited to a meal, bring gift-wrapped such as wine or chocolates.
. If you are invited for dinner and want to send flowers, have them delivered that day.

Table manners

. Remain standing until invited to sit down. You may be shown to a particular seat.
. Table manners are Continental -- the fork is held in the left hand and the knife in the right while eating.
. Follow the lead of the hostess - she sits at the table first, starts eating first, and is the first to get up at the end of the meal.
. The host gives the first toast.
. An honoured guest should return the toast later in the meal.
. Women may offer a toast.
. Always take a small amount at first so you can be cajoled into accepting a second helping.
. Do not keep your hands in your lap during the meal; however, do not rest your elbows on the table either.
. It is acceptable to leave a small amount of food on your plate.
. Pick up cheese with your knife rather than your fingers.
. If you do not want more wine, leave your wineglass nearly full.

Palestinian tradtions

Basic dress

Traditionally, the Palestinian costume for women is centered around the thob, a loose-fitting robe with sleeves, the cut varying by region. A square chest panel on the thob, known as the qabbeh is often decorated. A highly decorated qabbeh could function as a family heirloom, handed down from mother to daughter for use on several different dresses. Embroidery on the lower back panel of the thob used in some regions, is known as the shinyar. In Bethlehem, brocade on the back hem panel of the thob is known as the diyal. Pants or trousers known as libas or shirwal were commonly worn under the thob. The men's shirwal was typically black, white or blue cotton.

Both men and women also donned jackets, known as jubbeh, over their everyday dress. If embroidered, the jubbeh was known as the jillayeh. A short embroidered jacket known as the taqsireh[8], deriving its name from the Arabic verb "to shorten",[9] was worn by the women of Bethlehem on festive occasions. The gold couching of the taqsireh often matched the thob. European influence on local fashions resulted in the addition of pockets sometime in the 1930s.

In villages, men wore a traditional, ankle-length coat (qumbaz) with a rounded neckline and narrow sleeves, often striped. Reportedly, the color of the coat could identify one's village. For Bedouin men, the overcoat or shoulder mantle is known as an abaya. Under such coats, the traditional village or Bedouin costume included a cotton or wool tunic (qamis).

Traditionally, Palestinians wore sandals or were barefoot, donning red or brown leather shoes as needed.

Headdress


It was deemed proper and dignified both for men and women of all religious demonations to cover their heads, whereas it was shameful (´ayb) to leave it uncovered.
The women in each region had distinctive headdresses, often embellished with gold and silver coins from their bridewealth money. The more coins, the greater the wealth and prestige of the owner.[15] The sha'weh a distinctive conical hat "shaped rather like an upturned flower pot," was worn only by married women, mainly in Bethlehem, Lifta and Ain Karm (District of Jerusalem), and Beit Jala and Beit Sahur (Bethlehem District).[16] Hanan Munayyer's research revealed that these hats, often associated with women of King Arthur's court, were seen on Levantine women by the Crusaders who subsequently brought the style back to Europe.



Woman in Bethlehem. Note her sha'weh headdress and her short taqsireh jacket; both typical of the Bethlehem-area. The sha'weh headdress would normally be completely concealed by the white veil, but is here revealed for the photograph.The smadeh, an embroidered cap with a stiff padded rim worn in Ramallah, had a row of coins, tightly placed one against the other, around the top of the rim. Additional coins might be sewn to the upper part or attached to narrow, embroidered bands. As with the other female head-dresses, the smadeh represented bridal wealth, and acted as an important cash reserve. One observer wrote in 1935: "Sometimes you see a gap in the row of coins and you guess that that a doctor's bill has had to be paid, or the husband in America has failed to send money".

The words araqiyyeh and taqiyyeh have been used since the Middle Ages in the Arab world to denote small, close-fitting head-caps, usually of cotton, worn by both genders. The original purpose was to absorb sweat (in Arabic: "araq"). In the Hebron area, araqiyyeh came to denote the embroidered cap with a pointed top that a married women would wear over her taqiyyeh. During her period of engagement prior to marriage, a woman of the Hebron area would sew and embroider her araqiyyeh and embellish the rim with coins from her bridal money. The first time she would wear her araqiyyeh would be on her wedding day.[18] A large veil known as the shambar was also commonly worn in the Hebron area and in southern Palestine.

Until the 1930s, the men wore headwear that would be a clear marker of their wealth, locale, religious and political position. Bedouins wore a hatta or keffiyeh, held in place by black headropes (agal). The urban elite wore turbans (where wide, bulky turbans proclaimed a man´s social importance), until mid- late- 19th century, when they changed to the Turkish tall, stiff, red tarbush istambouli or fez.

The greatest variation of headgear was in the villages. Village men wore a soft, red felt hat (tarbush), with a type of turban (laffeh) wrapped around it, leaving the crown (top) of the tarbush exposed. The laffeh signified status and position, as H.B. Tristram noticed while visiting the Samaritans of the Nablus-region in 1865:

All [Samaritans] wore red turban, the peculiar badge of the sect, while colour white is appropriate to the Moslems, green being the exclusive colour of the shireefs or descendants of the prophet, and black or purple left to Jews or Christians.
Turban colour could also indicate political affiliations. In the early 20th century, a white turban, besides signifying a Muslim or even an Islamic law judge, was also worn by supporters of the Yaman political faction, while the opposing Qays faction wore red.
In the late 1930s, around the time of the Arab revolt, the headress changed significantly, in that many villagers and townsmen, especially the young, adopted the Bedouins keffiyeh and headropes as an expression of Palestinian nationalism. Photographs from this period (1930s-1940s) show that the head cloth was white, but later black and white and red and white checked patterns became popular. Meanwhile, the tarbush and laffeh went out of fashion except among elderly men. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the black and white keffiyeh adopted by Yasser Arafat became, according to Weir, a "potent symbol of Palestinian national identity [..] [becoming] a popular motif in Palestinian cartoons, posters and paintings, and its meaning has passed into the international language of costume."

Pre-1948

Social and gender variations

Bedouin woman in Jerusalem, 1880s.Palestinian costumes reflected how men enjoyed more physical and social mobility than women. For the women of Palestine's towns and villages who rarely traveled, clothing reflected very distinctive styles and patterns unique to where they lived. Conversely, as in most of the Middle East, clothing for men had a more uniform style than women's clothing.

Traditionally, Palestinian society has been divided into three groups: villagers, townspeople, and Bedouins. The villagers, referred to in Arabic as fellaheen, lived in relative isolation, so that the older, more traditional costume designs were found most frequently in the dress of village women. The specificity of local village designs was such that, "A Palestinian woman's village could be deduced from the embroidery on her dress." Townspeople, (Arabic: beladin‎) had increased access to news and an openness to outside influences that was naturally also reflected in the costumes, with town fashions exhibiting a more impermanent nature than that of the village. By the early 20th century, well to-do women in the cities had mostly adopted a Western style of dress. Typically, Ghada Karmi recalls in her autobiography how in the 1940's in the wealthy Arab district of Katamon, Jerusalem, only the maids, who were local village women, donned traditional Palestinian dresses. Due to their nomadic life-style, Bedouin costume reflected tribal affiliations, rather than (as in case of the villagers) a localized geographic area.

Palestinian embroidery


Village women embroidering in locally-distinctive styles was a tradition that was at its height in Ottoman-ruled Palestine. Women would sew in items to represent their heritage, ancestry, and affiliations. Triangles, used as amulets, were often incorporated to ward off the "evil eye", a common superstition in the Middle East. Large blocks of intricate embroidery were used on the chest panel to protect the vulnerable chest area from the evil eye, bad luck and illness. To avoid potential jinxes from other women, an imperfection was stitched in each garment to distract the focus of those looking. Girls would begin producing embroidered garments, a skill generally passed to them by their grandmothers, beginning at the age of seven. Since most young girls were not sent to school, much of their time outside of household chores was spent creating clothes. Much of this would be preparation for their marriage trosseau (or jhaz) which would consist of all dress requirements for future life including everyday and ceremonial dresses, jewelry, veils, headdresses, kerchiefs, girdles, belts, undergarments and footwear.

Diverse motifs were favored in Palestinian embroidery and costume as Palestine's long history and position on the international trade routes exposed it to multiple influences. The cypress tree (saru) motif is found throughout Palestine in many complex and simple forms. Other Palestinian motifs are derived from quite basic geometric forms such as triangles, squares and rosettes. In the late 1930s, new influences introduced by European pattern books and magazines promoted the appearance of curvilinear motifs, like flowers, vines or leaf arrangements, and introduced the paired bird motif which became very popular in central Palestinian regions.[28] John Whitting (collector for parts of the MOIFA collection) has argued that "anything later than 1918 was not indigenous Palestinian design, but had input from foreign pattern books brought in by foreign nuns and Swiss nannies". Others say that the changes did not set in before the late 1930s, up to which time embroidery motifs local to certain villages could still be found. Geometric motifs remained popular in the Galilee and southern regions, like the Sinai Desert.


The qabbeh on a Palestinian dress, circa 1940. Note the use of floral designs introduced by the patterns in European fashion magazines to which Palestinian women were exposed in the first half of the 20th century.Before the appearance of synthetically dyed threads, the colors used in Palestinian embroidery were determined by the materials available for the production of natural dyes: "reds" from insects and pomegranate, "dark blues" from the indigo plant: "yellow" from saffron flowers, soil and vine leaves, "brown" from oak bark, and "purple" from crushed murex shells. Shahin argues that the colors used in Palestinian embroidery include the ancient color schemes of the Canaanite and Philistine coast: red, purple, indigo blue, and saffron and that more recently, Islamic green and Byzantine black were added to the traditional pallette.[30]

Shelagh Weir, author of Palestinian costume (1989) and Palestinian embroidery (1970), demarcates embroidery distribution patterns in Palestine by painting two horizontal lines: the first running south of Mount Carmel and the Sea of Galilee at the longitude of Afula, and the second running north of Jaffa and south of Nablus from the coast to the Jordan River. Her research indicates that in the area between these two lines there is very little history of embroidery, though there remains evidence of traditions of fine decoration, including braidwork and appliqué, in women’s costume.[28] An Arab proverb of this particular region, originally recorded by Gustaf Dalman in 1937, went: "embroidery signifies a lack of work."[28]

Longstanding traditions of embroidery were found in the Upper and Lower Galilee, and in the Judean Hills and on the coastal plain. Weir writes that cross-stitch motifs may have been derived from oriental carpets, and that couching motifs may have origins in the vestments of Christian priests or the gold thread work of Byzantium.

Italian traditions

Italian Wedding Traditions
Getting Engaged in Italy

In the past, Italian wedding engagements were usually orchestrated by the families of the bride and groom. Lineage was of the most importance, and if the bride's father had any doubts, negotiations could stop in their tracks. In some cases, a matchmaker sent a message (masciata) to the prospective bride's family of the man's hope to marry. If her family found the groom's proposal acceptable, there would be wedding bells and a marriage.


Diamond engagement rings have been popular with Italian brides since the 1400's. Italians have long held that diamonds are created by the flames of love. In medieval Italy, grooms even paid for their brides with precious stones.

In preparation for her wedding day, the bride assembles a trousseau, consisting of household items, clothing, and sometimes even her future husband's clothes to bring to the home of the groom. Her family provided her with a dowry of money and possibly domestic goods. Today, this custom continues in the form of the bridal shower.

Wedding Day Traditions and Folklore in Italy
Traditions


In Veneto, it is customary for the Italian couple getting married to walk to the wedding chapel together. The townsfolk place obstacles in the bride's path to see how she will react to domestic situations. If she picked up a broom, for example, she will keep a clean house. If they put a child in her way and she stopped to help him, she will be a good mother. In some regions, the bride and groom must cut a log in half before they reach the wedding site, using a double handled saw. This demonstrates their partnership in love and marriage.

Tying a ribbon in front of the wedding chapel to symbolize the bond between the couple getting married is another popular wedding custom in Italy. The actual wedding ceremony (sposalizio) is officiated by a priest or civil authority. Old church tradition warns against marrying during Lent and Advent, and marriage is also avoided in the months of May and August. A lengthy celebration begins with a mass in the morning; and the dancing and feasting that follows may continue well into the wee hours of the morning.

Italian Folklore

To ward off evil spirits, a groom in Italy might carry a piece of iron in his pocket. The bride wears a veil to hide her face from jealous spirits. Tearing the veil is considered good luck.

Sunday marriages are believed to be the luckiest.

It is considered bad luck for a bride to wear any gold, on the day she is married, until wedding rings are exchanged.

Symbolic foods for fertility and for good luck are 'confetti -- candy covered almonds tied in mesh bags to toss at the couple; and twists of fried dough powdered with sugar called wanda (bow ties).

Gourmet Food for Italian Wedding Receptions



For hundreds of years, traditional gourmet Italian food has been served to wedding reception guests. Sweet liquor and strong drinks are served to the guests, by the best man, before the dinner begins. This gives the guests a chance to toast the happy couple with "Per cent'anni" which means, for a hundred years.

The menu at an Italian reception is nearly as important as the wedding itself. Guests may be served as many as 14 different courses with wine and other beverages. After dinner, the customary multi-layered Italian wedding cake is served with espresso and coffee. The sheer volume of food reflects how highly anticipated and festive a typical wedding in Italy is.

Wedding Reception Traditions

For the traditional Italian custom of 'buste', the bride will carry a satin bag (la borsa) in which guests place envelopes of money to defer the expenses of customarily lavish Italian weddings. Sometimes the bag is guarded by the bride's grandmother during the festivities or the bride might wear it and allow male guests to put money in it in exchange for a dance with her.

Before the reception is over, the bride and groom usually break a glass. The number of pieces of shattered glass symbolize the years the happy couple will share together. At some weddings, a pair of white doves is released into the air, symbolizing the couple's love and happiness.

Toast to the Newlyweds

One popular custom is a toast, usually made by a male guest after a few glasses of wine. "Evviva gli sposi" - "hurray for the newlyweds." Guests respond with thundering applause. This toast is shouted whenever there is a lull in the wedding celebration, renewing spirits and enthusiasm.

"Kiss for the bride" is another popular Italian toast. It calls for the bride and groom to stand and show their affections for all the guests to see.

palestin and palestinians

Palestinian culture is comprised of a blend of Eastern Mediterranean influences. Being Levantines, Palestinians share commonalities with nearby Levantine Arabs (Lebanese, Syrians, and Jordanians). Palestinians, although Arabized today, are genetically an indigenous Semitic (non-Arab) people which descended from the native Canaanites/Phoenicians and thereby mixed with their conquerers (Philistines, Hebrews, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks). Over half of Palestinians are in diaspora, and found outside of Palestine. The population of Jordan is 2/3 of Palestinian heritage. Most Palestinian refugees can be found other Middle Eastern countries, and North and South America. Many are also in Europe. Language: Arabic (official), Aramaic, Hebrew, and Armenian. Most Palestinians speak Levantine Arabic, a dialect of Arabic spoken in Syria, Palestine, western Jordan and Lebanon. Palestinian rural dialects exhibit several distinctive features (particularly the pronunciation of qaaf as kaaf) which distinguish them from other Arabic varieties, but Palestinian urban dialects more closely resemble northern Levantine dialects, i.e., those of Syria and Lebanon. The Bedouins of Palestine, however, are more securely known to be Arab by ancestry as well as by culture; their distinctively conservative dialects and pronunciation of qaaf as gaaf group them with other Bedouin across the Arab world and confirm their separate history. In a number of villages in the Galilee (e.g. Maghar), and particularly, though not exclusively among the Druze, the qāf is actually pronounced qaaf as in Classical Arabic. Religion: Currently, no reliable data are available for the worldwide Palestinian population. But an estimated percentage suggests 60% Muslim (mainly Sunni, but also a few Sufis), 30% Christian (predominantly Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and others) and 10% Other (i.e. Druze, Baha'i, Jewish, Samaritan, etc). However, within the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, the (non-Jewish) Palestinian population is 97% Muslim and 3% Christian; there are also about 350 Samaritans and a few thousand Jews.

palestinian traditions

a picure may say more than a 1000 word...

Traditional Palestinian Dance: Debkeh
Debkeh is the Palestinian folkloric dance and is representative of typical village tradition. Some of the many dance troupes that perform around the world today display artistic dances that reflect the Palestinian people's roots to their homeland. The dance pieces tell the history, struggle, and aspirations of the Palestinian people