borgata

10:23 Jan 20, 2010 

yes, notes are a bit of a problem :-) But the Roman borgate have such an incredible history which in turn is the basis of 20+ years of neorealist cinema. maybe your text actually does spell it out as it goes along?

10:12 Jan 20, 2010 

I agree with MisterBeppe, this word usually refers to these specific poor areas. Moreover, it's also quite unusual to find it in non-Roman contexts.

10:05 Jan 20, 2010 

Perhaps you 're right, but "almost always" in Italian we connect the word "borgataro" and "borgata" (in Rome, I mean) to run-down situations. In any case not to posh suburbia at all!

09:37 Jan 20, 2010 

is the great historian of the Roman borgate. basically they were created as dumping grounds for the inhabitants of the neighbourhoods in the centre of Rome that were razed to the ground by Mussolini as part of his project of transforming the city into the new imperial capital. people were deported in fascist militia trucks to little clusters of gerrybuilt houses in the middle of nowhere, no services, no work, no connection to the centre. they were later joined by internal immigrans from the countryside and the south.
«Conseguenza della trasformazione monumentale dell'area dei fori e degli sventramenti di interi quartieri che hanno fatto spazio all'apertura di spazi concepiti per celebrare la maestosità del potere. Il risultato fu la distruzione di quartieri popolari storici e la conseguente nascita delle borgate periferiche, nuovi insediamenti urbanistici nati sotto l'impronta di una provvisorietà che ben presto divenne drammatica emarginazione (Italo Insolera, Le borgate di Roma)».
http://www.teatrobibliotecaquarticciolo.it/adon.pl?act=doc&d...
a search for 'Pasolini and the Roman borgate' will also turn up a lot of info.