Dario Chimenti, current international PhD student in the Italian Studies program, recently had the pleasure of presenting Giulio Carlo Pantalei’s Una lingua per cantare. Gli scrittori italiani e la musica leggera (Einaudi, 2025) at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. The event was organized by PI-Philly – the Association of Italian Professionals in Philadelphia, in partnership with the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia.
Pantalei’s book explores the relationship between Italian literature and popular music in the postwar period, focusing on the ways in which some of the most influential writers of the twentieth century engaged with songwriting and Italian popular music. Through figures such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italo Calvino, Giorgio Caproni, Franco Fortini, and Roberto Roversi, among others, the book highlights a rich network of collaborations and cultural exchanges between writers, musicians, and composers.
During the presentation, the Author discussed the book’s interdisciplinary approach and examined how these encounters between literature and music contributed to the development of Italian songwriting as an important form of cultural and political expression.
Hosted at one of Philadelphia’s historic intellectual institutions, the event also offered an opportunity to bring Italian cultural scholarship into dialogue with the city’s academic and professional community, fostering connections among Italian studies, literature, music, and contemporary Italian culture.
