America is just unique, who cares if Italian-Americans call themselves Italian?
right. it sure is.
You and I are on the same page, LK. But when it comes to the Diaspora, and the Italian-American experience in general, we usually are
.
this is a great compliment PB. much appreciated.
Since that I'm at it, I’m gonna go ahead and share my own stubborn ethnic-identification canvas for italian-americans®. remember that, as with everything concerning ethnicity and culture,
it’s all extremely subjective. this is no gospel: I’ve met 1st generation italians who were completely detached from their culture and 4th generation guys who spoke better than me and travelled to Italy twice a year.
This being said:
1. ITALIANS
it should be quite self explanatory, but unfortunately it isn’t. By this I mean those who moved here after being
raised there. I’d say anyone who got here after the age of 15/18. That's more than enough for Italy to mess you up.
There’s a misconception that paints Italy merely as a culture. It isn’t just that. Italy is also a nation, with specific borders, politics and whatever that comes with it. Living through the social repercussions of such local politics, economy and cultures is key to gather that sense of belonging to a localized territory. Therefore I don’t care if you speak fluent italian, have blue and brown passports and cook better than my granny…if you were raised in freaking Seattle you were not
shaped by Italy. Is that simple.
Fictional media representative: Furio Giunta
2. ITALIAN-AMERICANS
now things get blurry. I firmly believe that ethnic identification goes well beyond language, which it’s sure important, but is
not the sole representative factor that a specific ethnicity pours upon you. The upper midwest is an great example of this. Needless to say that only a fringe minority up there speaks norse, swedish, dane, finn or some other northern dialect. And most of those who do are mostly found in retirement homes anyway, getting ready for valhalla.
That said, it’s undeniable that scandianvian culture is still alive and breathing through different social representations and life experiences. How people relate to society, religion, family, food, folklore, gender-reletions, politics, and even criminality it’s all still dictated by those traces left behind by past generations. This is where italian-americans stand: if any of these subcultures had an impact on their personas, even if they were influenced by just a few, is enough to get rightfully associated with this broader umbrella group.
Fictional media representative: Tony Soprano
3. ITALIAN-LASTNAMED AMERICANS
this is when attrition took over after squashing them with the hammer of assimilation. Baring an italian last name or a lithuanian one makes no real difference for them … they’d mispronounce it anyway.
Neither italian nor italian-american cultures have influenced their upbringing and their heritage is brought up only when friends and neighbors come over for dinner and they show them old dusty pictures of unknown ancestors.
They might have some living relative who belongs to either subgroup 1. or 2., but they see him as some sort of exotic weirdo.
Fictional media representative: Dr. Bruce Cusumano
