Filmin' Sardinia

This article aims to investigate the linguistic features of the “new Sardinian cinema” through the analysis of two representative films, Arcipelaghi by Giovanni Columbu (2001) and Sonetàula by Salvatore Mereu (2008), both adapted from contemporary Sardinian novels and characterised by the use of the local idioms (the Barbaricino and Campidanese varieties of Sardinian) alongside regional Italian. The two films will be regarded as intersemiotic translations, as per the terminology of Roman Jakobson, and tackling the macroscopic linguistic features on screen in terms of language variations (diamesic, diastratic and diaphasic). The translations of the two novels are interesting for the ideological and identity–making connotations, and for the importance of the cinematic medium in the contemporary Sardinian cultural framework. Since «language is a guide to social reality»1, the analysis of two Sardinian language films allows us to consider sensitive issues related to society, culture, identity, lifestyle, as well as the stereotypes that underlie the literary portrayal of Sardinia. The title highlights the intimate connection between the significance of setting films in Sardinia and the process of film–making over the last two decades.