 | Sic!
Warsaw 2007
135 × 205
104 pages
paperback
ISBN: 978-83-60457-27-6
Translation rights: Sic! |
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Bianka RolandoAn Italian Phrasebook
Excerpt
Bianka Rolando’s first collection of stories has been strongly influenced by both her origins and her education. "An Italian Phrasebook" is an attempt to tell the story of an identity defined by four cultural spheres: Polish, Italian, painting and literature.
What is involved here is an impression rather than an autobiographical account, because Rolando rarely talks about herself, resorting to facts from her own life. It is not facts that make up this book, but how Rolando speaks, how she relates to being bilingual and bicultural and how she connects words and images. Each of the eleven texts in the collection was inspired by a selected masterpiece of Italian painting and is supported by graphic and photographic work. The visible and the readable elements are closely connected here.
In effect, the result is an original and intriguing mixture. It includes a contemporary interpretation of the scenes shown in the pictures and an attempt to relate these images (such as a vision of late parenthood or a sisterly relationship) to today’s mentality; the mentality of those who, as they look at the painting in question, find their own problems in it. Rolando places herself among the potential viewers or those being portrayed: she not only eavesdrops on them, but also listens in on herself.
These “mini images” shimmer with different shades and offer lots of leads to follow up as you read. One of these trails pursues the elements shown in the picture (such as hands or hair), another leads to the cultural assimilation of Biblical motifs, yet another prompts you to follow a word game being played by the author. This game is a sort of reflection of the process of learning and discovering language resources – starting from children’s rhymes, proverbs or songs, artfully wound into the narrative.
Although the subject of analysis is extremely important here, another issue that seems just as crucial is the problem of being multi-cultural, as presented by Rolando. She does not focus on the differences, but on the common features, on universal symbols and the cultural roots common to the inhabitants of Europe. "An Italian Phrasebook" is excellent proof of the fact that although language separates us, there are plenty of other planes of understanding – gesture, facial expression or tone of voice.
Marta Mizuro
Bianka Rolando (born 1979) is from a Polish-Italian family. She is a graphic artist by profession and lectures at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.
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