When I Am Italian
Paperback 296 pages English November 1, 2019
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Excelsior Editions/State University of New Yo
When I Am Italian
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Can a person born outside of Italy be considered Italian?"My ancestral Italian village in America was in Waterbury Connecticut." In this sentence, Joanna Clapps Herman raises the central question of this book: To what extent can a person born outside of Italy be considered Italian? The granddaughter of Italian immigrants who arrived in the United States in the early 1900s, Herman takes a complicated and nuanced look at the question of to whom and to which culture she ultimately belongs. Sometimes the Italian part of her identity-her Italianità-feels so aboriginal as to be inchoate, inexpressible. Sometimes it finds its expression in the rhythms of daily life. Sometimes it is embraced and enhanced; at others, it feels attenuated. "If, like me," Herman writes, "you are from one of Italy's overseas colonies, at least some of this Italianità will be in your skin, bones, and heart: other pieces have to be understood, considered, called to ourselves through study, travel, reading. Some of it is just longing. How do we know which pieces are which?"
- Author:
- Joanna Clapps Herman
- Publisher:
- Excelsior Editions
- Publication Date:
- November 1, 2019
- Number of pages:
- 296 pages
- Language:
- English
- Binding:
- Paperback
- ISBN-10:
- 143847718X
- ISBN-13:
- 9781438477183