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"Heart of My Race:" Questions of ldentity in Sicilian/American Writings
Title
"Heart of My Race:" Questions of ldentity in Sicilian/American Writings.
Creator
Mazzucchelli, Chiara, Tamburri, Anthony J., Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description
Throughout the 1900s, the sense of a distinct sicilianita-or Sicilian-nessmanifested itself in writings by Italian authors such as Giovanni Verga, Luigi Pirandello, Leonardo Sciascia, Vincenzo Consolo, and Andrea Camilleri, among others. Interestingly, a parallel phenomenon has emerged in the United States in the broader field of Italian-American literature. While attempting to redefine the concept of Americanness and expand the canon of American literature so that it embraces articulations...
Show moreThroughout the 1900s, the sense of a distinct sicilianita-or Sicilian-nessmanifested itself in writings by Italian authors such as Giovanni Verga, Luigi Pirandello, Leonardo Sciascia, Vincenzo Consolo, and Andrea Camilleri, among others. Interestingly, a parallel phenomenon has emerged in the United States in the broader field of Italian-American literature. While attempting to redefine the concept of Americanness and expand the canon of American literature so that it embraces articulations of ethnic identities, many Sicilian-American writers have turned their works into literary manifestations of their Sicilian Americanness, or, as I have called it, sicilianamericanita. In this study, I try to answer questions such as: Why and how have some Sicilian- American authors fashioned their Italian-American identity in regional terms? How did a sense of sicilianita develop in the US and turn into sicilianamericanita? And how did the above-mentioned phenomenon materialize in Italian-American literature? My examination focused on Jerre Mangione's memoirs, Rose Romano's poetry, and Ben Morreale's novels. While Mangione consistently capitalized on his regional ethnic identity mainly in order to correct some of the most unfavorable prejudices, and especially those originating from Mafia, Rose Romano writes poetry and prose dealing with issues of regional self-ascription which overlaps with contestations of traditional gender roles, heterosexual scripts, and racial categorizations. Ben Morreale's sicilianamericanita takes on intertextual aspects, creating a closely-knit net of relations with the Sicilian tradition in Italian literature. Many Sicilian-American writers, just like their Sicilian counterparts, have come to see their regional ethnic identity as a source of inspiration for the growth of a distinctive literary tradition. This study has been conceived as an initial small step towards a process of inquiry and exploration of the common ground between Italian and Italian-American literatures. Such critical endeavors and international cooperation between both fields of literary studies could bring forth a better understanding of the cultures, and also strengthen in significant ways the status of both literatures within and outside their respective national critical communities.
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Date Issued
2007
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000985
Subject Headings
Italian literature--Italy--Sicily--Criticism and interpretation, American literature--Italian American authors--Criticism and interpretation, National characteristics in literature, Influence (Literary, artistic, etc)
Format
Document (PDF)
Constituting community
Title
Constituting community: expanding perceptions of community in Rawlings's Cross Creek and Thoreau's Walden.
Creator
Curran, Julianne., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
Both Thoreau and Rawlings call attention to humanity's need to expand its perceptions and interpretations of what it means to be a part of a community in Walden and Cross Creek, respectively. Building on the established idea of what it means to be incorporated into a human community, each author also implores his or her readers to extend the perceived boundaries of what comprises a "community" to include the natural world. Ultimately, both texts point to the need for the establishment of what...
Show moreBoth Thoreau and Rawlings call attention to humanity's need to expand its perceptions and interpretations of what it means to be a part of a community in Walden and Cross Creek, respectively. Building on the established idea of what it means to be incorporated into a human community, each author also implores his or her readers to extend the perceived boundaries of what comprises a "community" to include the natural world. Ultimately, both texts point to the need for the establishment of what Aldo Leopold calls a land ethic, which requires the re-drawing of communal boundaries to include the land with man as a citizen rather than a conqueror of Nature. Thoreau and Rawlings demonstrate how an individual can start to expand his or her conception of community to move closer to Leopold's ideal by recounting the different experiences they have with human society and nature while living at Walden Pond and in Cross Creek, Florida. However, each author uses different approaches. Thoreau concentrates primarily on reflecting upon improving his individual self in order to eventually improve his Concord community. Rawlings, on the other hand, makes a greater effort to reflect upon her interactions with the people of Cross Creek in addition to her interactions with Nature in order to strengthen her bonds with these things. Such a difference causes Rawlings to be read as presenting a re-vision of Thoreau's ideas about the relationship between humankind, one's community, and Nature. While the kinds of experiences Thoreau and Rawlings encounter might be different, in the end it is their emphasis on the importance of an individual's relationship to the community-one that includes both humans and Nature-that resonates with readers.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683121
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, National characteristics, American, in literature, Nature, Effect of human beings on
Format
Document (PDF)
Heaven's fertile soil
Title
Heaven's fertile soil: baseball, gender, and the natural American heartland in W.P. Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa".
Creator
Santy, Ashley., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
This thesis explores W.P. Kinsella's emphasis on love for land, family, and baseball in discussing relationships between characters in his short story "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa". Chapter I introduces the characters, their role in establishing this as a tale of conservation through agrarianism, and how Kinsella's choice to write a positive story creates unique potential for healing. Chapter II establishes similarities between the father's war experiences and Jackson's exile from...
Show moreThis thesis explores W.P. Kinsella's emphasis on love for land, family, and baseball in discussing relationships between characters in his short story "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa". Chapter I introduces the characters, their role in establishing this as a tale of conservation through agrarianism, and how Kinsella's choice to write a positive story creates unique potential for healing. Chapter II establishes similarities between the father's war experiences and Jackson's exile from baseball, underscoring its mythic importance. Chapter III examines the relationship between the protagonist and his wife, and how their relationship symbolically fosters love for nature through farming, and can be used to reconcile modern agrarianism with ecocriticism. Chapter IV discusses how connection with the earth brings healing. The final chapter underscores the worthiness of this work to be a cherished part of the American literary canon.
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Date Issued
2012
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355876
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Baseball, Criticism and interpretation, Environmental ethics, National characteristics, American, Farm life in literature
Format
Document (PDF)