Tpc:italian American Identity in Literature and Film

Catalog description

The aim of the course is to provide an introductory exposure to Italian American writers and filmmakers and how they have expressed their heritage and identity through an array of fiction, poetry, and films that reflects their change of status and assimilation in mainstream American life. The course explores stereotypes, family relationships, and social concerns related to immigration and adaptation, with an emphasis on both the original ethnic identity and the broader American cultural landscape. The class will retrace the immigrant experience with the depiction of the ethics of labor and the definitions of family in the novel "Christ in Concrete" (P. Di Donato); the evolution of cultural stereotypes in films (Godfather I-II, Moonstruck, etc.), the portrait of women in D. Di Prima's poetry and through other essays collected in the Italian American Reader (B. Tonelli, 2003), and the cross cultural redefinition of ethnic identity through selected articles and publications, (such as The Saturated Self - Dilemmas of Identity in contemporary life) made available by the instructor. Restrictions/Requirements: Course conducted in English.