No. 1 (2007): Literary and Linguistic Itineraries

This volume examines the literary texts of migrants to identify therein the sense of belonging to both the homeland, which is often strengthened by the tragedy of emigration, and to the host land, which becomes a new homeland through the process of acculturation. Indeed, if, on one hand, emigration marks a traumatic break away from the land of origin and a rite of passage toward a new life, acculturation into new geographical realities which are increasingly perceived as one’s own triggers, on the other, the development of a new national consciousness. The critical essays contained in this volume show how these literary texts foreground a dynamic image of culture and a desire to integrate into the new social reality. They highlight the constant urge that Italian immigrants to the Americas have to assimilate indigenous elements and to establish a dialogic and mutual relationship between cultures, as well as their will to solve problems pertaining to domination, confrontation with Native Peoples, modernism, regionalism, folk beliefs and cosmopolitanism.