John Fante: Italian Emigration in the West: Identity and Autobiographical Writing

After an introduction on the characteristics of the literature of emigration, Italian emigration to the western U.S. will be studied from the early years of the twentieth century. The course aims to examine some of the novels of John Fante, now considered one of the greatest representatives of Italian American literature. Starting from the imaginary map of his life, which he describes in his novels (The Brotherhood of the Grape, Ask the Dust - La confraternita dell’Uva, Chiedi alla polvere) through the figure of his alter ego, Arturo Bandini , the course will focus on the meaning of the concept of identity that is developed through the limits of autobiography but also through writing, understood as the universal overcoming of self. This approach will demonstrate how from the paternal theme to the construction of his own bildungsroman, the continuous relationship between life and literature becomes the basis for his writing, creating an irreverent metaliterature intended as a symbol of the ultimate conquest of the self.