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Schadenfreude Italiano, Blogging and Other Matters at i-italy by Jerry KraseFriends: I am a more or less regular contributor to i-italy.org which describes itself thusly: "We are a group of journalists, academics and “public intellectuals” determined to create an authoritative point of encounter, information, and debate on the Internet concerning Italy and Italian America." Therefore it makes most efficient sense for me to post in my BrooklynSoc.Org/Blog only the introductions to my i-italy posts with the appropriate link to the i-italy site. I have previously posted here on BrooklynSoc.Org my "Losing in Translation" which discusses the reaction to Ian Fisher's New York Times article that is referred to below. Schadenfreude Italiano After all this fuss a few weeks ago about how Ian Fisher of The New York Times was making Italy look bad (faceva fare una mala figura all'Italia), Italy did it all by itself (da sola). The Germans have the word Schadenfreude to describe the malicious pleasure one enjoys when they see someone else fail. Come si dice in italiano Schadenfreude? There certainly must be a cognate, as it seems to be a favorite Italian pastime. Almost every evening at 7:30, I watch RAI Television News (Telegiornale) on Channel 63. It is there that I witnessed the spectacle in the Italian Senate as the 20 month-old, allegedly Center-Left, government of Romano Prodi disintegerated amid pushing, shoving, shouting, spitting, cursing, and the uncorking of what looked like Asti Spumonti bottles that overflowed during the political orgasm (orgasmo politico). It was brought about by the pique (picca) of a minor party Minister of Justice, Clemente Mastella, who resigned and then vented his anger by withdrawing his party's support in the Senate because his wife was being investigated for corruption. The final tally was 161-156.
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