L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano I t's certainly among the least traumatic among the imposi- tions caused by the p a n d e m i c , b u t i t ' s undeniable that having our daily lives controlled by a nationally imposed cur- few, as it is the case in Italy, is quite surreal. Of course, w e ' v e a l l b e e n t e e n s a n d we've all had to submit to some sort of "curfew"back i n t h e d a y , o u r p a r e n t s ' s way to limit possible dama- ges caused by the notoriou- s l y i r r a t i o n a l d e c i s i o n making process of the tee- nage brain. But this one is different, it's a real curfew, one that empties the streets and makes the city silent. Eerie? Perhaps. Necessary? Yes. The word itself curfew is very interesting and, even if you may not notice it at first glance, both the English and t h e I t a l i a n c o p r i f u o c o have the same origins and roots. Coprifuoco is a word f o r m e d b y t w o o t h e r s , "copri" (coprire: to cover) and "fuoco" (fire), so literal- ly coprifuoco means "cove- ring the fire." Weird, you may say, but not as much as it seems. The noun comes from an ancient medieval p r a c t i c e o f p r o b a b l e French origin, according to which, at a certain time of t h e d a y , c i t i z e n s h a d t o extinguish all fires as a pre- caution to avoid their homes b u r n i n g d o w n : i n t h o s e years, houses were mostly built in wood, and fires to w a r m t h e m u p a n d c o o k w e r e l i t i n p i t s d i r e c t l y excavated in the floor. You can imagine how high the risk of fires was and how q u i c k l y t h e y c o u l d h a v e spread in a city where most buildings were highly flam- mable. For this reason, most medieval cities had special bell towers, called ignite- g i u m o r p e r i t e g i u m i n L a t i n , f r o m w h e r e e a r l y signs of fire could be detec- ted and, every evening, the signal to "cover the fire" was given by a bell tolling. But let's go back to ety- mology. We said that copri- fuoco and curfew have more in common etymologically t h a n i t s e e m s , a n d t h a t ' s because the English "cur- f e w " d e r i v e s , v e r y l i k e l y , from the French couvre-feu, w h i c h m e a n s e x a c t l y t h e s a m e a s c o p r i f u o c o i n I t a l i a n . T h e m a g i c o f R o m a n c e l a n g u a g e s . According to historical lin- guists, the term was impor- ted to England — and the English language — already in Middle Ages by William t h e C o n q u e r o r , a f t e r t h e Battle of Hastings of 1066, when he conquered England and enforced the obligation t o e x t i n g u i s h a l l f i r e s a t e i g h t i n t h e e v e n i n g . H i s aim wasn't that of avoiding fires spreading, but rather that of limiting opportuni- ties for people to gather in secret and conspire against him. However, other sour- ces give an earlier date for the introduction of curfew — a n d o f t h e w o r d — i n England, mentioning 872, when King Alfred the Great i m p o s e d i t i n t h e c i t y o f Oxford. Others believe the Romans (who had a similar practice enforced to avoid nighttime fires) were the first to impose curfews in the English world. B u t t h e c u r f e w w e ' v e been experiencing today is of a different type. While its name remained the same, modern curfews forbid peo- p l e t o l e a v e t h e i r h o m e s between certain times of the day or night, just as it has been happening in Italy for the past couple of months: w e h a v e t o s t a y h o m e between 10pm and 5am to limit the opportunities of night time gatherings, and restaurants, bars and cafés must close at 6pm for the same reason. The first "modern" cur- fews in Europe are associa- ted with the Second World W a r . I n F r a n c e , w h e r e i t lasted for the whole time of N a z i o c c u p a t i o n ( 1 9 4 0 - 1944), curfew sirens are still in working shape and they have been, in some areas, s a d l y p u t t o w o r k a g a i n during the pandemic. And what about Italy? In the Bel Paese, too, c o p r i f u o c o w a s a t h i n g during the war. It was the 2 6 t h o f J u l y 1 9 4 3 w h e n , after the fall of Fascism, it was imposed by General Badoglio, along with the state of emergency that was to last until the end of the war. All public venues and sport centers were closed, a l o n g w i t h t h e a t e r s a n d cinemas. No one could cir- culate between 9 pm and 5 am, unless they had a spe- cial pass. The only catego- ries who could move relati- vely freely during curfew hours were priests, doctors a n d m i d w i v e s . M e e t i n g s with more than three people were outlawed, following regulations imposed — quite awkwardly, if you think of the context — through the enforcement of Fascist laws dating back to 1926. If you were caught in the streets during curfew hours, you h a d t o s h o w a d o c u m e n t and have a pretty consistent reason to be out and about, o t h e r w i s e j a i l w a s a r e a l r i s k , o r w o r s e ( t h e d e a t h penalty could be applied for subversive individuals). Besides the whole death penalty part, the continuous fear of bombings, and the prohibition, especially in smaller areas, to keep lights on and fires burning after sunset to reduce the risk of nighttime bombings, there isn't much of a difference, conceptually, between our c u r f e w a n d t h e o n e o u r grandparents had to endure. Both were, in the end, crea- ted to protect us from death. And as Badoglio declared in those days, a citizen's pri- mary duty in these cases is " o b e d i e n c e . " I t w o n ' t b e forever. Soon, we'll be able to return the word coprifuo- co and its practice back in t h e d r a w e r o f f o r g o t t e n things where it belongs. CHIARA D'ALESSIO LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Restaurants close early, everyone is at home: a scene during "coprifuoco" (Photo: MikeDotta / Shutterstock.com) Coprifuoco: a word we hoped gone for ever

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