Imagining Italians

Joseph P. Cosco

Description

Integrating history, literary criticism, and cultural studies, Imagining Italians vividly tells the story of two voyages across the Atlantic: America's cultural pilgrimage to Italy and the Italian "racial odyssey" in America. It examines how American representations of Italy, Italians, and Italian Americans engaged with national debates over immigration, race, and national identity during the period 1880–1910. Joseph P. Cosco offers a close analysis of selected works by immigrant journalists Jacob Riis and Edward Steiner and American iconographic writers Henry James and Mark Twain. Exploring their Italian depictions in journalism, photos, travel narratives, and fiction, he rediscovers the forgotten Edward Steiner and offers fresh readings of Riis's reform efforts and photography, James's The Golden Bowl and The American Scene, and Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson.

List of Illustrations

Introduction: Magnificently Miserable Italians and Their Wretched, Princely Italy

1. Jacob Riis: Immigrants Old and New, and the Making of Americans

2. Edward Steiner: All Is (Not) Race?

3. Henry James's Picturesque Peasants: Heroes of Romance or Modern Men?

4. Henry James's "Flagrant Foreigners": Whose Country Is This Anyway?

5. Mark Twain: Racism, Nativism, and the Twinning of Italianness

Conclusion: The Fight for Whiteness

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• 19th century
• 20th century
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis
• Migration

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791486627
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

I MAGINING  I TALIANS

SUNY SERIES IN  I TALIAN /A MERICAN  C ULTURE F RED L. G ARDAPHE , EDITOR

I MAGINING  I TALIANS

T C R R HE LASH OF OMANCE AND ACE IN  A MERICAN  P ERCEPTIONS , 1880–1910

J OSEPH P. C

OSCO

S U N Y P TATE NIVERSITY OF EW ORK RESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Kelli Williams Marketing by Patrick Durocher

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Cosco, Joseph P. Imagining Italians : clash of romance and race in American perceptions, 1880–1910 / Joseph P. Cosco. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Italian/American culture) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-7914-5761-3 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5762-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Italian Americans—Public opinion. 2. Immigrants—United States—Public opinion. 3. Italian Americans—Social conditions—19th century. 4. Italian Americans—Social conditions—20th century. 5. Immigrants—United States—Social conditions. 6. Public opinion—United States. 7. Italian Americans in literature. 8. United States—Ethnic relations. 9. Racism—United States—History—19th century. 10. Racism—United States—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series.

E184.I8 C654 2003 305.85'1073'09034—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002042632

With deep respect and gratitude I dedicate this book to:

Giuseppe and Carmella Frustaci, the maternal grandparents I never knew, who ventured from Italy to the New World to find a better life

Carmella Cosco, my mother, who was sent back to Calabria as a child when her mother died, and later sacrificed her life in Italy to return to America as a wife and mother

Anthony Cosco, my father, for convincing my mother to make the long return journey across the ocean for the sake of their two sons

All the Italian immigrants who journeyed to a new homeland, made a life there, but never completely forgot their native land

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List of Illustrations Introduction Magnificently Miserable Italians and Their Wretched, Princely Italy

The Fight for Whiteness

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Mark Twain: Racism, Nativism, and the Twinning of Italianness

Chapter One

Chapter Five

C ONTENTS

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171 179 207 227

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Jacob Riis: Immigrants Old and New, and the Making of Americans

Chapter Three

Edward Steiner: All Is (Not) Race?

Henry James ’s Picturesque Peasants: Heroes of Romance or Modern Men?

Henry James’s “Flagrant Foreigners”: Whose Country Is This Anyway?

Chapter Two

Chapter Four

Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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I LLUSTRATIONS

A Vegetable Stand in the Mulberry Bend

Feast of St. Rocco, Bandit’s Roost, Mulberry Street

1 Bandit’s Roost, 39 / 2 Mulberry Street

In the Home of an Italian Rag-Picker, Jersey Street

Pietro Learning to Write, Jersey Street

The Mott Street Boys “Keep Off the Grass”

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