American writers’ imaginative empathy for the Risorgimento and emigration

Abstract

This article seeks to arouse the readers’ interest in the literary works inspired by the Italian Risorgimento and its close connection with emigration to the United States. Though this is not a widely known branch of the Italian–American literary canon, it has, at least, two great merits. Firstly, it helps to project a more positive picture of the average Italian immigrant away from the cliché of the ‘dago’. Indeed, the majority of Italian immigrants were honest and hard-working people, who had escaped from absolute poverty, hoping to build a better future in America, where they generously contributed to its economic and social growth. Secondly, it arouses Americans’ sympathy with Italy’s fight for freedom, if for no other reason, because the ideals at stake were certainly comparable to those of pre-Civil War America. (See the short story ‘Domenico's New Year’, in which the protagonist puts his life at risk for American freedom and democracy.)