Antonio Natali urges Italians to reject English loanwords in Dante's anniversary year

Antonio Natali, former director of the Uffizi Gallery, proposes a linguistic resolution for 2021, the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death: avoid using English loanwords in Italian discourse. He criticizes the pervasive adoption of terms like 'lockdown', 'smartworking', 'mission', 'step', 'startup', 'target', 'brand', 'trendy', 'abstract', 'all inclusive', 'fake news', and 'location', arguing they replace more appropriate and beautiful Italian words. Natali recounts an incident where an Italian filmmaker asked to use the Uffizi as a 'location', prompting Natali to request a retake in Italian. He emphasizes that this is not about autarky but about fostering awareness, especially among youth, of the nobility of the Italian language, which Dante helped sanctify. The article was published in Grandi Mostre #22 and on Artribune.