Italian-American Emigration Literature

This course aims to analyze Italian-American emigration through literature produced by women. The core of the course will focus on the study of the female voice and its evolution from being an object to becoming a creator of literary texts. We will analyze two novels, several poems and a short story by Italian-American migration writers: Helen Barolini (Umbertina), Melania Mazzucco (Vita), Gianna Patriarca (Poesie da Figlie in vendita) and Giunta (“Le mura di Gela”, in Padri racconti italoamericani). Themes range from crossing the ocean, to nostalgia for the past, current events, the painful loss of one’s identity and the attempt to rebuilt it, and finally the emancipation of the female figure. In the proposed texts, we will examine, how immigration involves a loss but also the possibility of redemption. The loss of roots is a recurring motif, and at the same time, a source of literary inspiration.

Required Texts:
Barolini Helen, Umbertina, Avagliano Editore, Cava de' Tirreni, 2001. ISBN-10/ISBN-13 8883090160/978-8883090165.
Mazzucco Melania.,Vita, Einaudi ,2014, ISBN 9788806218812 .
Materiale didattico fornito dalla docente:
G. Patriarca, Rosaria (poesia) da Daughters for sale (Figlie in vendita), Guernica , 1997 ( il testo sarà fornito dalla docente agli studenti)
E. Giunta, Le mura di Gela in N. Balbo, C. Bonomo Albright , E. Giunta, Padri . Racconti italoamericani, Iacobelli ottobre 2009. (Il testo sarà fornito dalla docente).