Abstract

During the pandemic emergency, several communicative artifacts have been produced. These language practices adhered to the crisis risk communication strategies. Within the COVID-19 pandemic to date, the discourse analysis is limited to media (e.g. Jo e Chang 2020; Poirier et al. 2020; Altheide 2002; Nicolosi 2021; Malecki et al. 2021; Boccia Artieri e Farci 2021; Barile e Pananari 2020), or leaders’ language (e.g. Bernard et al. 2021; Warren e Lofstedt 2022) with little analysis of institutional crisis communication. This contribution aims to fill this gap by presenting a documentary analysis of the Italian official documents produced between the declaration of the state of emergency (January 31, 2020) and its cessation (March 31, 2022). Results shed light on the technocratic approach the Italian crisis discourse laid on, in which the nature of risk was objective and knowable. This epistemological approach brought the foundations of an emergency architecture in which the Scientific Technical Committee (CTS) played a strategic role and the authorities’ decisions progressed at the same pace as the evolving epidemiological scenario. The work poses possible future developments as regards other global risks crisis communication.