Abstract
On a typical weekday, Italian (and Italian-speaking) television viewers outside Italy are presented with a series of programs mostly selected from the Italian public broadcaster RAI’s national schedule. In the morning, the schedule features Unomattina, a daily talk show created in 1986 and compounding a bizarre collection of celebrity news, beauty tips, shopping suggestions, news, sports updates, and weather forecasts. Lasting approximately three hours, Unomattina was created as a localized version of the US show Good Morning America and has been a staple program at RAI for the past 30 years. At noon, RAI marks the traditional Italian lunchtime, which used to be spent at home sharing a meal with family, with the popular cooking show La prova del cuoco. Based on the BBC format Ready, Steady, Cook, this show was launched in 2000 as a co-production of RAI and the Dutch multiplatform entertainment company Endemol. This live program features a competition between two teams who are tasked with the preparation of a three-course meal in 90 minutes. In recent years, the team competition has expanded to include elements of the traditional rivalry among Italian regions in a section called ‘La sfida del campanile’ (‘The bell tower/hometown contest’), which pits chefs from different regions against one another as advocates of their respective local culinary traditions.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
References
Anderson, B. (2006) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (london: Verso). Available at: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MZyD5SVA6LkC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=anderon+imagined&ots=3AAgzU1C69&sig=HitqeMhKUu0Fzv-W-67jCmyroZs [Accessed March 14, 2015].
Anholt, S. (1998) ‘Nation-brands of the twenty-first century’, Journal of Brand Management 5(6), 395–406.
Arcuri, L. (2015) Due pesi due misure: Come gli immigrati e gli italiani sono descritti dai media (milano: Giunti).
Ardizzoni, M. (2007) North/South, East/West: Mapping Italianness on Television (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books).
Ardizzoni, M., & Ferrari, C. (2010) Beyond Monopoly: Globalization and Contemporary Italian Media (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books).
Aronczyk, M. (2007) ‘New and improved nations’, Practicing Culture 3(105), 6–13.
Aronczyk, M. (2008) ‘“Living the brand”: Nationality, globality, and the identity strategies of nation branding consultants’, International Journal of Communication 2, 25.
CARITAS. (2013) Dati statistici sugli italiani nel mondo. Available at: http://www.emigrati.itEmigrazione/DatiStatItalMondo.asp.
Castells, M. (1997) The Power of Identity (Vol. 2) (Malden, MA, and Oxford: Blackwell).
Cattaneo, G. (2003) ‘La DE negli anni Ottanta’, in: A. Milana (ed.), RAI International 40 anni. Una storia 1963–2003 (rome: Rai International), pp. 123–129.
Chatterjee, P. (1996) Whose Imagined Community? Available at: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu~sj6/Chatterjee%20Whose%20Imagined%20Community.pdf [Accessed March 14, 2015].
Conte, M. (n.d.) Chiude Rai Internazionale apre Mediaset Italia International. articolo21.org. Available at: http://archivi.articolo21.org4423/notizia/chiude-rai-internazionale-apre-mediaset-italia.html [Accessed March 13, 2015].
Decio, V. (2008) L’Italia vista dalla televisione: l’esperienza di Rai International. Available at: http://www.tesionline.itv2/thesis-abstract.jsp?idt=25056 [Accessed March 2, 2015].
Fan, Y. (2010) ‘Branding the nation: Towards a better understanding’, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 6(2), 97–103.
Fondazione Intercultura. (2008) L’immagine dell’Italia all’estero. Available at:http://www.fondazioneintercultura.itjb/webfiles/immagine%20italia%20all%27estero.pdf.
Gambaro, M. (2012) ‘Rai, la storia infinita’, il Mulino 61(4), 601–608.
Gargiulo, E. (2014) Dall’inclusione programmata alla selezione degli immigrati: le visioni dell’integrazione nei documenti di programmazione del governo italiano’, Polis 28(2), 221–250.
Hayward, M. (2008) Global Italy: Media, Identity and the Future of the Nation-State ProQuest.
Jansen, S. C., Pooley, J., & Taub-Pervizpour, L. (2011) Media and Social Justice 1st ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).
Nye, J. S. (2008) ‘Public diplomacy and soft power’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 616(1), 94–109.
Ouellette, L. (2002) Viewers Like You? How Public TV Failed the People (new York: Columbia University Press).
Padovani, C. (2005) A Fatal Attraction: Public Television and Politics in Italy (Milano: Rowman & Littlefield).
Padovani, C., & Tracey, M. (2003) ‘Report on the conditions of public service broadcasting’, Television & New Media 4(2), 131–153.
RAI International e l’immagine dell’Italia: mutare subito direzione per cambiare gli stereotipi italiani nel mondo! (n.d.) Available at: http://www.linkiesta.itblogs/bussola-cinese/rai-international-e-l-immagine-dell italia-mutare-subito-direzione-cambiare-gli [Accessed March 13, 2015].
Rowland, W. D., & Tracey, M. (1990). ‘Worldwide challenges to public service broadcasting’, Journal of Communication 40(2), 8–27.
Seghetti, R. (2010). ‘Comunicazione e informazione in Italia. Gli assetti propri-etari ed economici’, Problemi dell’informazione 35(1–2), 29–62.
Tracey, M. (2009) ‘From theory to praxis and back: A commentary on making television and related issues’, Journal of Media Practice 10(2–3), 273–288.
Volcic, Z., & Andrejevic, M. (2011) ‘Nation branding in the era of commercial nationalism’, International Journal of Communication 5, 21.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 Michela Ardizzoni
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ardizzoni, M. (2016). Borderless Nationalism: Italy’s RAI Transnational Brand. In: Volcic, Z., Andrejevic, M. (eds) Commercial Nationalism. Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500991_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137500991_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-55651-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-50099-1
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)