L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 T h e I t a l i a n D r e a m . Because there is not only the American myth, the Far West to be conquered, t h e l a n d o f a t h o u s a n d opportunities, that boundless horizon where dreams can become reality. October, the month of Italian Heri- tage, has this merit: it reminds every- one that there is also the land of our origins, our starting point, the place where it all began, the heart of our world. A place where we can start again, a pole of gravity that, sooner or later, is bound to attract us. Roots to deal with. During this month dedicated to our personal and shared identity, we talked about Italianness and Italian- Americanness. We asked you to tell us about the meaning you give to being "also" Italian or Italian-American, to under- stand what's the value you attribute to the cultural baggage inherited from your family, what it means to you speaking and eating Italian, doing Italian things, having an Italian lifestyle, feeling part of the Italian-American community. And that is why we are now talking about the "Italian Dream." For every migrant, it is at once a delight and a burden, and this is true for everyone: for those who left Italy at the begin- ning of the 20th century with a third class ticket, and for those who traveled in the 2000s, flying across the ocean in a handful of hours. Every expat has to come to terms with a way of thinking that is Italian, with the need to remain a paesano and to evol- ve at the same time, with the idea of returning to the Belpaese or leaving it behind forever, to do Italian things or to become fully Americanized, to buy Italian products or to try other cuisines, to keep, over time, what Italy means or leave behind, October leaves behind a nostalgic but charming "Italian Dream" From the director perhaps just not to feel homesick anymore. Those who left, those who, today, live away from Italy, have been building lit- tle by little their Italian Dream. They create their own ideal of Italy and, with it, also part of their identity. For those who left, there was an "American Dream," that is, the hope to reach, through courage and determination, a bet- ter life in the United States or to develop more professionally; for those who traveled across the ocean and ended up living in the US there is also an "Italian Dream," a mythology of the Belpaese, a half romanticized, half fictitious ideal of Italy. For many immigrants, for their children and grandchildren, Italy was and still remains a truly desired object, a longed for goal. Something to take back. When you leave a country for another, you slowly under- stand that a part of you belongs to another place, to another habitat. They are the places of your childhood, you education. The substratum we grew up in is always within us, in our head, it touches and plays with part of our feelings. It's a piece of our personal memory, of the way we speak or spend time with our family. It may be a tad out of focus, perhaps, discolored by time or filtered through our memories, or those of our grandparents. But that image of Italy is dearly guarded in our hearts. And this is why that core of Italianness, of Italianità, remains a goal, an open question awaiting an answer, even when it stays on the periphery of our lives, on the background. "Immigration is a rupture, a laceration of our essential memory's references, it is a brutal change of existence. You don't leave your land, one don't easily give up your culture, you don't undertake that journey for pleasure." When sociolo- gists Stephen Castle and Mark Miller defined our contempora- neity the "age of migrations," they shed light on the wound represented by leaving, on the pain first generations usually suffer and, in part, pass on to second generations.These, even if they usually receive a good amount of authentic cultural inheritance (in our case of Italianità), become assimilated in their adoptive context, that is, again in our case, they become americanized. However, these children of Italians born and bred in the US, often feel suspended between two worlds. Their offspring, on the contrary, forgets about that severed umbilical cord, and the discomfort of being neither like their parents, nor like the dominant group. In time, it tends to redi- scover, with pleasure and curiosity, to have connections somewhere else, roots in a far away, but very charming, place. It often tries to embrace its heritage with interest. It takes a trip back in time and reconnects to its history, to see where its ancestors left from. For the same reason, we keep cooking pasta "like nonna used to do," we watch eagerly documentaries about Italy or join Italian courses. It isn't a case that, today, many choose Italian as a second language, to the point it became the fourth most studied, as mentioned in the statistic published in con- nection with the Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo, which this year reached its 20th edition and is a much awaited appointment of the month of October. But our heritage, our Italian Dream is also a powerful engi- ne. For us and for our community, the added value of this month is this call to look within ourselves and understand what makes us Italian and Italian-American, and why we always feel inside us a grain, even if small, of Italianità. It's not only a trip to the past, but also a regenerating push forward: of course, it is a memory, a footprint in thoughts, the flavor of a dish, a family tradition, the tie with someone who came before we were born. But it is also an active movement towards the future: a secret dream, the place you want to visit at least once in your lifetime, a cultural baggage to guard care- fully, a heritage to promote, like L'Italo-Americano does. Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 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 DIRECTOR/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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