L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 I talian-American literature of the second half of the 20th cen- tury described a world divided between generations, often very d i f f e r e n t f r o m o n e a n o t h e r . Between two Fatherlands, between oppo- site perceptions and views of what Italy and America were. It described the Ame- rican Dream, the eldorado and the fight against prejudice, a desire for integration and freedom, a frantic need to find a balance between identities, and indepen- dence from every kind of ethnic classifi- cation. It described, finally, also the New World's adventure, and the journeys back to the land of origins. The point is that emigration to America was and still is a mass experience, which, nevertheless, each individual lived and lives very personally, on the basis of one's own experiences, of how much one's family was or is connected with Italian traditions and language, of subjective feelings, and of the need and wish to iden- tify with something. Literature narrated the complexity, the suggestion, the drama, the comedy, the parody of it all, keeping alive the memory of one of the most voluminous, yet least discussed and represented, col- lective event of Italian history: migration. Italy's migration, that of her people, not the one we read about in newspapers today, so deeply connected with the idea of welcoming and integration, or to the refusal of those who land desperate on her coasts. The migra- tion of her children, who left the country and keep on doing it, who mingle with other cultures and societies. A density of events to be filtered through the lenses on one's personal experience and to "correct" with one's contribution to it. Francesco Durante , author of Italoamericana: The Literature of the Great Migration, 1880-1943, and one of the most authoritative voices in the field, depicts a heterogeneous galaxy of figures at the heart of the Italian-American tale: Don De Lillo, Richard Russo, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane Di Prima, Gregory Corso, Philip Lamantia, Mario Puzo, John Fante. With theirs, a plethora of other names, perhaps less known, but not less impor- tant if we want to know and understand the real narrative of the Italian migration to the US. It's useful therefore, to look into the work of Alessandro Sisca, AKA Riccardo Cordiferro, the first generation migrant — Durante writes — who had a "textbook Italianness," filled with all the virtues and defects of the stereotypi- cal Italian, as imagined back then in the US. Or to discover Carlo Tresca, "public enemy number one" according to a New Yorker cover, because considered the most dangerous radical in America. People and literature are instruments for the reader to gain a full Ferlinghetti: roots as an essential and integrant part of ourselves From the Editor understanding of reality. Dots to join and get the complete image. "I am like Homer. I mean my dog Homer: constantly looking for his own roots." That's how the brilliant biography of Lawrence Ferlinghetti compiled by Giada Diano begins. Diano worked in close contact with the poet, revealing to the public his life with a subjective and emotion-driven approach. This is the point of our reflection. What can we say today, after his death, about the legacy Ferlinghetti, immense protagonist of the world's artistic, literary, social and civic panorama, left us? What did we learn from this man, who lived the great season of the Beat Generation, but who's been so much more? Part of his legacy is found, without a doubt, in this quest for one's origins, for one's Italian roots, but there is more. Our roots are a starting point for us, a trampoline for that convoluted mix of varied experiences that life is. Then we have the turning points, the markers and highlights, the sliding doors — all things we define, even in Italian, using English — the moments of passage that set the pace and make the difference, the crossroads where our life is made, never mind how we'll eventually interpret and judge those decisions later. Ferlinghetti sought his root tenaciously. But he was also a free man and a polyhedric artist, difficult to label. And that's where part of his beauty lies. This man — a poet, artist, editor, bookseller, political hell raiser, activist, pacifist and tireless traveler — finds out to be Italian only when he asks for his birth certificate to enroll in the US Navy, a choice that was to determine his presence on D- Day and was to bring him all the way to Japan, to witness the aftermath of the atomic bomb. It was in that occasion that he discovered his father Carlo Leopoldo, who died before the poet was born, had the family surname anglicized to Ferling. From then on, Ferlinghetti walked a long, strenuous path in search his Italian origins, that was to bring him, eventually, to find the place where his father was born, Brescia, and later, in 2005, even to identify his childhood home. But it's in 1955, when he decided to change back his surname to Ferlinghetti and to sign all his literary work with it, that he turned the page. He gained back a piece of his own iden- tity. Roots as a necessary and integrant part of the individual. To walk through the 20th century, meeting all its protagonists and contributing with inexhaustible courage and creativity to the renovation of the American cultural panorama as he did, one needs strong roots to set his feet on, but also wings to fly with. Being a child of two world is an experience made of duality and ubiquity, it's a being and a not-being. It shows two planets by cros- sing their orbits, by turning back time to the big bang and by diving into the black hole of the future, all at once. It means reco- vering something and evolving at the same time. It's probably the inner path each of us should follow to understand the events of our lives. On the 26th of March, the city of San Francisco will pay tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, by illuminating the City Hall with the white, red and green of the Italian tricolor. The idea, which was fully embraced by Mayor London Breed, was proposed by Mauro Aprile Zanetti, friend and collaborator of the poet. Aprile Zanetti's official statement: "Aprile, the folletto with win- ged feet, all heart and spring, flew higher than ever, up in the sky above San Francisco, to dedicate to his friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti — great Italian-American poet, editor, activist and painter — a special tribute, on the 26th of March, just two days after he was to celebrate the beginning of his 103rd round around the Sun. With a Fluxus act (Lawrence connected with the Italian Fluxus movement thanks to Francesco Conz), we will remember and honor the founder of City Lights by writing with light and colors —those of the flag of Italy, the home country of Carlo, Lawrence's father — with a symbolic word-game: City (Hall) Lights Tributing Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The City Hall's dome will be visible everywhere in the Bay, to bring a smile on everyone's face, remembering the "little boy," a first generation Italian-American. Simone Schiavinato, Editor NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Member of FUSIE (Federazione Unitaria Stampa Italiana all'Estero), COGITO L'Italo-Americano 610 West Foothill Blvd. Unit D, Monrovia, CA 91016 - Tel.: (626) 359-7715 PLEASE SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO P.O. BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano Newspaper (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization), www.italoamericano.org, is the largest and longest-running Italian newspaper in America, not to mention the cultural and news resource for all things Italian in the US. A bilingual newspaper which represents an historical landmark for the Italian American Communities in the West Coast and throughout the US. L'Italo-Americano benefits from subsidies by the Italian Government, Memberships and Donations intended to support and not interrupt a mission that began in 1908 to preserve and promote the Italian language and culture in the USA Periodicals postage paid at Monrovia, California 91016, and additional mailing offices. PUBLISHER Robert Barbera Grande Ufficiale EDITOR IN CHIEF Simone Schiavinato ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Patrick Abbate EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Barbara Minafra COPY EDITOR Francesca Bezzone LOS ANGELES CONTRIBUTOR Silvia Giudici SAN FRANCISCO CONTRIBUTORS Catherine Accardi Serena Perfetto SEATTLE CONTRIBUTOR Rita Cipalla CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mariella Radaelli, Francesca Bezzone, Luca Ferrari, Stefano Carnevali, Joel Mack, Paula Reynolds, Nicoletta Curradi, GenerosoD'Agnese, Fabrizio Del Bimbo, Maria Gloria, Alfonso Guerriero Jr., Anthony Di Renzo Serena Perfetto, Kenneth Scambray, Chiara D'Alessio © 2020 L'Italo-Americano Membership: One year $59 - Single copy $2.25 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to L'Italo Americano PO Box 6528 Altadena, CA 91003

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