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Approaches Italian American literature from new critical perspectives and explores contemporary and understudied voices from both the United States and Canada.
Italian Americans on the Page fills a significant gap in Italian American and Italian diaspora studies, particularly literature, as it explores four genres—fiction, poetry, memoir, and theater—from a variety of critical perspectives. The first section of the book offers reconsiderations of two canonical authors, Helen Barolini and Don DeLillo, while the other three sections bring new attention to understudied Italian American and Italian Canadian writers, including women and LGBTQIA+. These include Mary Jo Salter, Peter Covino, Louise DeSalvo, Karen Tintori, Juliet Grames, Ben Piazza, Salvatore Antonio, Christopher DiRaddo, Michele Linfante, Chris Cinque, Theresa Carilli, Mary Melfi, and Michaela Di Cesare. Each contribution approaches Italian American and Italian diaspora studies through a unique theoretical lens, adding to the richness of what proceeds this publication in the field. Ultimately, the volume offers rereadings of foundational Italian American works and provides newfound attention to understudied and emerging Italian diasporic voices.
"In its breadth, methodological rigor, and commitment to expanding the field's horizons, Italian Americans on the Page stands as one of the first edited collections to examine understudied works belonging to Italian American and Italian Canadian literature through theoretical frameworks grounded in ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality, demonstrating the enduring significance of these perspectives. The nine chapters speak to one another in meaningful ways, linked either by the shared treatment of previously unheard voices or by similar innovative research practices. They are also written in an accessible and engaging style that makes each contribution a pleasure to read." — H-Net Reviews (H-Italy)
"This is an invaluable addition to the field of the Italian American studies. While offering new critical approaches to both canonical and noncanonical works, it also extends our understanding of LGBTQ writing in poetry, fiction, and dramatic literature, and it expands the coverage of Italian Americana to include the North American contributions of Canadian dramatists whose work builds on the coverage of traditional concerns with family life and turmoil." — Josephine Gattuso Hendin, New York University
Ryan Calabretta-Sajder is Associate Professor of Italian and Director of International and Global Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Alan J. Gravano is Assistant Professor and the Writing Center Director at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Together, they are also the coeditors of Italian Americans on Screen: Challenging the Past, Re-Theorizing the Future.
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Rethinking the Past and Bridging the Future of Italian American Studies
Ryan Calabretta-Sajder and Alan J. Gravano
Section 1: Rereading the Italian American Canon: Intersectionalizing the Narrative
1. "Who Will Buy My Marriage Spread?" The Economy of Affectsand the Construction of a Diasporic Domesticity in Helen Barolini's Umbertina
Francesco Ferrari
2. Dietrologia: Italian American Heritage and the Conspiracy ofPostwar Whiteness in Don DeLillo's Underworld
Bryan M. Santin
Section 2: Confessionalism in Italian American Poets: Moving Beyond Categories
3. Hidden Roots: Mary Jo Paradise Salter and the Subtle Presence of Italian-ness
Alan J. Gravano
4. Queering Italian American Poetry: Peter Covino's Cut Off the Ears of Winter: Psychoanalysis, Performativity, Language
Ryan Calabretta-Sajder
Section 3: Blurring the Past, Redefining the Future: Italian Americans and Memoir
5. Memoir and the Invention of Italian American Experience: A Tribute to Louise DeSalvo
John Champagne
6. Criminalizing Desire: An Intersectional Approach to Patriarchy's Monsters in Karen Tintori's Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian American Family and Juliet Grames's The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Mary Jo Bona and Jessica Maucione
7. The Very Queer Truth: Ben Piazza's Italian Southerner
Douglas Steward and Tracy Floreani
Section 4: From Page to Stage: Italian Americans and Italian Canadians
8. Queer Intimacies in Italian Canadian Literature
Domenico A. Beneventi
9. Daughter-Mother Borderlands in Contemporary Italian American and Italian Canadian Theater
Colleen M. Ryan
List of Contributors
Index