ITAL 2400 - [The Italian-American Experience]

(crosslisted) AMST 2405
(ALC-AS, LA-AS, SCD-AS)

Spring. Not offered: 2022-2023. Next offered: 2023-2024. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Conducted in English.

V. Fulginiti.

Between 1880 and 1920, 4 million Italians moved to the United States in search of better fortunes. As a result, today there are 17 million US citizens of Italian descent, among them famed artists and celebrities such as Martin Scorsese, John Turturro, Madonna, and Lady Gaga. Italian-Americans have left their mark on art, food, music, cinema, and television, creating a new vibrant culture. In this course, we will look at different cultural products that result from this cultural hybridity, chronicling the Italian-American journey from Ellis Island to show business. The examined texts will include novels, memoirs and films, with particular emphasis on the work of female authors such as Helen Barolini, Kym Ragusa, and Louise de Salvo. Throughout the course, we will grapple with questions of gender and race, hybridity and identity, and we will explore the linguistic and visual strategies used by the authors to suggest a feeling of displacement.