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Hyphenated
Italian R.B. grew up in the States, then lived many years in Brazil and
Argentina
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| R.B. wrote to me after reading the site page on Hyphenated Italians, and he graciously allowed me to put his words here for everyone to read. Candida |
Latin American Hyphenated Italians - how religious are the communities - prejudices faced from society - perceived contributions to society - how common is marriage outside community - where he felt most comfortable |
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From the Guestbook"I read your section on the Italian Diaspora and while I am happy that someone is using that term I think that it is important to realize that the Italian Diaspora in The USA and Canada is smaller and less Italian than the community in South America. I am an Italian American but I lived in Brazil and Argentina where at least 70 million people (Brazilian Government Statistics) are of Italian descent. The Italian communities in Brazil and Argentina are more closely linked to Italy and there are more speakers of Italian than in the USA." The Italian DiasporaR.B. expressed this concern: "The issue of Italy's treatment/ignorance of the Italian Diaspora is a profound issue that needs to be addressed."
I responded: "I agree that Italy has failed to
embrace her diaspora, unlike, for example, the attempts made
by the Presidents of Ireland to embrace her diaspora, and the
Eastern European countries' welcoming ex-refugees and descendants
of refugees after the wall came down. Anything you'd like to
say on that point would be of great interest."
A Note: All my research shows Italy's interest in Latin America and the Italian diaspora living there has mainly to do with the ease for Italian-born tourists and businesses to visit and do business there. Only in 2003 was a site set up by an Italian governmental institution, ANSA, with the Latin American diaspora in mind (http://www.italianos.it/). A Unique PerspectiveI was impressed with R.B.'s unique perspective: "You have the unique perspective of being an Italian-Anglo (from English-speaking, majority Protestant countries, with developed economies), and having lived in Italian-Latin American communities (Romance language, majority Catholic countries, with developing economies). I would love to know more about the different experiences of the communities, due to the differences between these two groups of Italian emigrant destinations." R.B. obliged... Latin American Hyphenated Italians
-how religious are the communities
The Italian
Diaspora communities in Brazil and Argentina are about as
religious as the society in which they now live. Since
both Argentina and Brazil are Catholic countries people tend to
be religious in a Latin way; that is they are very spiritual and
they tend to have a faith-life that is filled with saints and
rituals. Argentina is more profoundly orthodox in their
Catholicism but Brazil too is religious.
-the prejudices faced
from the greater society
Italians in
Argentina and Brazil have never been discriminated against. In
fact Italians make up one of the 'core' groups of these
societies the way Germans and Irish are a "core
group" in the USA;.
In Sao Paulo and
southern Brazil Italian food, words and music are everywhere the
best Italian restaurants outside of Italy are in Sao Paulo and
their pizza is the best in the world including Naples. In
Argentina the Spanish language has been changed and many Italian
inflections and words are used as well.
Italians are
some of the richest people in these societies. It has been
said that when the Italians arrived in the USA they stopped
being 'white' Italians and other White Ethnics were an outsider
group; while in South America when they arrived they
became part of the European class immediately and hence were
perceived as superior
to the indigenous and African origin populations. While life was
hard for Italians in South America it was a totally different
immigration. The Italians in South America invented the
Tango, profoundly influenced art and writing for example
Portinari one of Brazil's most important painters is of Italian
descent. The influence of Italians in profound in Brazil
and Argentina along with Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile.
-the perceived contribution (good and bad) to the
greater society
Italian and
Italian things in Argentina are perceived as "class".
In Argentina Italian and Spanish cultures are considered the
apex of life along with English that fuse to create the
Argentine character.
In Brazil
Italians, along with German immigrants are viewed as the hardest
working and most important sectors of society. In major business
centers like Sao Paulo it is not uncommon for entire companies
higher management to be of Italian origin. Italians and
German-Brazilians tend to intermarry and have created a powerful
upper class that is dominant in Brazil.
In the area of
the Arts Italians have brought so much to Argentina and Brazil.
I am a poet so I can tell you that in both nations it was the
infusion of Italian culture into a predominately Iberian society
that lead to many innovations in Art and Culture. Many of
the finest painters and artists in Brazil and Argentina are of
Italian descent and people with very disparate backgrounds came
into art in these nations.
-how common is
marriage outside of the
Italian community
Intermarriage is
very prevalent but in Argentina for example 50% of the
population is of Italian origin hence the Italian culture never
becomes diluted as it does in the USA. This is also true in
the south of Brazil especially Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre a huge
percentage of the population is of Italian origin and so the
culture does not get diluted. It was estimated by a
Brazilian government source that in the region between Sao
Paulo, Brazil and Buenos Aires Argentina, an area
approximately the size of Italy over 60% of the population of 90
million has at least one Italian grandparent.
Well, in
Argentina Italy and Spain are viewed as the apex of culture.
People are very aware of books and culture from these nations
and food and fashion are very prevalent. In Brazil this is
also true but the ethnic milieu is more varied with German,
Portuguese and African cultural influences but Italy is still
viewed very well. There is none of the "Anglo Saxon'
prejudice of Italy as corrupt et cetera since these nations are
also Latin nations and function much as Italy does. It is
not widely known that both Argentina and Brazil based their
government bureaucracy on the Italian Fascist model and it is
very similar to Italy's bureaucratic system today. More
than one Italian I know has said that Brazil is the place where
he feels more at home outside Italy.
I have a unique
perspective on this. I speak Italian, Portuguese and Spanish and
I 'look' and sound like someone from these countries so I
have never been treated like an American in these nations. I
found both Argentina and Brazil (and to a lesser degree Chile
and Bolivia) more comfortable than the USA as a Latin
person the assumptions and body language that are so strong
among Italians and Italian Americans are NORMAL in Brazil and
Argentina. These nations do not have the cold callousness
of the USA and the culture which spawned it. The idea of
Dolce Vita is very strong in these nations and this came from
Italians I think. In the end if you want to see a culture
that is both American and Italian go to Brazil or Argentina it
will blow your mind how similar the cultures are to what you
know.
The biggest
difference with the USA is that Brazil and Argentina being
Catholic and Latin possess all the "structures" that
Italy possesses in terms of class people, there are still "from good
families" in South America. People do not have the
rebel innovator mentality that is strong among all Americans.
The passiveness and live and let live attitude that you find in
Italy also exists in South America.
-the
use of the Italian language
Italian is still
spoken by many people- in rural areas especially in Southern
Brazil there are many whole towns speaking late 19th century
dialects and Italian regions finance their schools especially
Lombardia and Trento . RAI is available as basic cable in
most places.
-attitudes to/about women and their roles
Sex is a weapon
in Latin America. Sexiness and a lusty lifestyle is de
facto and de jour. Women have to struggle to succeed but
Anglo American feminism has never taken root in South America
and women remain feminine.
There are not
many cultural conflicts since the culture is Latin and Catholic
Italian values blend easily into the society.
-contacts with Italy (business, social,
family...)
Italy has strong
influence in Brazil and Argentina many Italian companies like
Parmalat and Fiat are very strong. Most Italians in Brazil and
Argentina have strong ties to Family in Italy.
My heartfelt thanks to R.B. for his honest comments and insights. I've used R.B.'s initials for this piece, but only for convenience. Mr. Bianchi has set up and manages two websites. I've provided links below. Just click on the logos to visit them. He will soon be running a press together with Italian-American poet William Allegrezza. Their first publication will be translations of Italian poetry. You can find the link to Mr. Allegrezza's on-line poetry journal below. Anyone who'd like to contribute to the Hyphenated Italian comments/stories is free to contact me via the Site Guestbook. Candida
Chicago's Experimental Poetry Community/Calendar/Reviews
A blog about writing collage poetry, post modern poetry, multi lingual poetry.
An on-line poetry journal managed by Italian-American William Allegrezza.
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Also see my pages:
Italian Immigrants in New York City
John, and Italian Emigrant to the U.S.A. - by D. H. Lawrence