Re-reading Italian Americana

Specificities and Generalities on Literature and Criticism

By (author) Anthony Julian Tamburri

Not available to order

Publication date:

05 December 2013

Length of book:

198 pages

Publisher

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

ISBN-13: 9781611476552

This book is divided into three sections. The first section deals with the general situation of Italian/American literature and its reception both in the United States and in Italy. It also discusses other social and cultural issues that pertain to Italian Americana. Section two consists of six chapters, each discussing a specific author; three dedicated to prose (Pietro di Donato, Mario Puzo, Luigi Barzini), three dedicated to poetry (Joseph Tusiani, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Rina Ferrarelli). Section three examines the current state of criticism dedicated to Italian/American literature, the second part focusing in on a number of specific works.

Preface
Preliminaries
Chapter 1: The Italian/American Writer in “Exile”: At Home, Abroad, Wherever! (13)
Specificities of Reading Prose
Chapter 2: Pietro di Donato’s Christ In Concrete: An Italian/American Novel Not Set in Stone
Chapter 3: Mario Puzo’s The Fortunate Pilgrim: The Italian’s “American Dream” of “Staying Alive”
Chapter 4: Luigi Barzini, Jr.: From Italian “Immigrant” to “Italian American”
Specificities of Reading Poetry
Chapter 5: Joseph Tusiani’s Gente Mia: Coincidences of E[im]migration
Chapter 6: Rina Ferrarelli’s The Bread We Ate: Looking Back in Order to Move Forward?
Chapter 7: Maria Mazziotti Gillan’s Where I Come From: Making Connections and Passing Them On
(In)conclusions
Chapter 8: Beyond “Pizza” and “Nonna”! Or, Further Directions for Italian/American Textual Criticism and Cultural Studies
Index of Names
About the Author

Re-reading Italian Americana is a brilliant analysis of the status of Italian American studies in America and Italy, a powerful appraisal of critical works in the field, and a literary feast. Enriched by Tamburri's original and informed commentary on major writers and poets from di Donato to Mazziotti Gillan, it persuasively argues for the importance of Italian Americana in the American literary and cultural canon. Tamburri has written an indispensable book that is required reading for anyone who cares about multiethnic writing in the contemporary scene.