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Nation of Nations: Immigrant History as American History
Feeling Italian: The Art of Ethnicity in America
2006 American Book Award, presented by the Before Columbus Foundation
Southern Italian emigration to the United States peaked a full century ago—;descendents are now fourth and fifth generation, dispersed from their old industrial neighborhoods, professionalized, and fully integrated into the “melting pot.” Surely the social historians are Italian Americans are fading into the twilight of their ethnicity. So, why is the American imagination enthralled by The Sopranos, and other portraits of Italian-ness?
Italian American identity, now a mix of history and fantasy, flesh-and-bone people and all-too-familiar caricature, still has something to teach us, including why each of us, as citizens of the U.S. twentieth century and its persisting cultures, are to some extent already Italian. Contending that the media has become the primary vehicle of Italian sensibilities, Ferraro explores a series of books, movies, paintings, and records in ten dramatic vignettes. Featured cultural artifacts run the gamut, from the paintings of Joseph Stella and the music of Frank Sinatra to The Godfather’s enduring popularity and Madonna’s Italian background. In a prose style as vivid as his subjects, Ferraro fashions a sardonic love song to the art and iconography of Italian America.
Southern Italian emigration to the United States peaked a full century ago—;descendents are now fourth and fifth generation, dispersed from their old industrial neighborhoods, professionalized, and fully integrated into the “melting pot.” Surely the social historians are Italian Americans are fading into the twilight of their ethnicity. So, why is the American imagination enthralled by The Sopranos, and other portraits of Italian-ness?
Italian American identity, now a mix of history and fantasy, flesh-and-bone people and all-too-familiar caricature, still has something to teach us, including why each of us, as citizens of the U.S. twentieth century and its persisting cultures, are to some extent already Italian. Contending that the media has become the primary vehicle of Italian sensibilities, Ferraro explores a series of books, movies, paintings, and records in ten dramatic vignettes. Featured cultural artifacts run the gamut, from the paintings of Joseph Stella and the music of Frank Sinatra to The Godfather’s enduring popularity and Madonna’s Italian background. In a prose style as vivid as his subjects, Ferraro fashions a sardonic love song to the art and iconography of Italian America.
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 28, 2008
This book explores the influence on American culture of those of Italian descent--from author Pietro DiDonato to Sinatra to Madonna (and the "pagan Catholicism" that courses through her works). The mythic and archetypal story of Maria Barbella--an early immigrant who became quite notorious in her time, after publicly killing her seducer (whom had refused to marry her)--is all-but-forgotten, but fueled much anti-Italian discrimination at the time. Ferraro takes a crack at Moonstruck, the Godfather and the Sopranos--which are not PC among Italian-American literati. It is not an exhaustive review of Italian-American arts and artists. But it's a thoughtful and unique take on Italian-American culture, and its allure and absorption into the larger American landscape.
July 24, 2012
This is one FUN academic book! Reading it confirmed that I am both a cultural theorist AND an Italian-American through and through.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews