Abstract

This article aims at exploring President Napolitano's vision of Italy, linking his political biography, the type of language used in his utterances and the issues that most frequently arise from his speeches. The analysis points out that the preferences of the presidential language concern the institutional and the conflict-ridden components, in order to show the tension between the personal experience of Napolitano as professional politician of the First Republic, and the changed political context of a majoritarian democracy based on an adversarial logic. The old and the new problems identified by the President portray a country in deep crisis, but not necessarily bound to decline if it will be able to resort to its cultural heritage.