Selected Critical and Bibliographical Resources

Page 27

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Alfonsi, Ferdinando. Italian-american Poetry: Poesia Italo-americana. Catanzaro, Italy: Carello Editore, 1991.

[This bilingual publication contains essays on and a bibliography of Italian-American poetry and essays on the following poets: Ferdinando Alfonsi, Arthur Clements, Maria Gillan, Joseph Greco and Joseph Tuccio. Also included is a supplement to his anthology of Italian-American poets.]

 

Cordasco, Francesco and Salvatore LaGumina. Italians in the United States: a Bibliography of Reports, Texts, Critical Studies and Related Materials. New York: Oriole Editions, 1972.

[One of the first major bibliographies covering all aspects of Italian-American culture.]

 

Del Giudice, Luisa. Studies in Italian-american Folklore. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1993.

[A collection of six exemplary essays on a variety of aspects of Italian-American folk culture. This collection pays attention to regional differences, and smashes through the stereotypes of both old and new world Italian cultures. The bibliography is thorough.]

 

Gardaphé, Fred L. Dagoes Read: Tradition and the Italian-american Writer. Toronto and New York: Guernica Editions, 1995.

[A collection of ten years of critical and feature writings on Italian/American literary and culture.]

 

---. Italian Signs, American Streets: Reading Italian-american Prose. Raleigh Durham, NC: Duke University Press, forthcoming 1996.

[A critical study of the evolution of Italian-American narrative from its beginnings in oral traditions, through immigrant narratives, through to contemporary modern and postmodern contributions.]

 

Giordano, Paolo A., ed. Joseph Tusiani: Poet, Translator, Humanist. West Lafayette, IN: VIA Folios, 1994.

[A collection of critical essays on the work of Joseph Tusiani.]

 

Green, Rose Basile. The Italian-American Novel. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Press, 1974.

[The first major presentation of the contribution of American novelists of Italian descent. This work is the foundation upon which nearly all criticism of Italian-American literature is built. The largest collection of plot summaries of Italian-American novels published before 1974.]

 

Hobbie, Margaret, Compiler. Italian-American Material Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992.

[After an "Introduction" that summarily surveys Italian presence in the United States and Canada, Hobbie presents a compilation of collections complete with all the information necessary to access the incredibly rich resources around the country; she Includes a listing and description of sites of importance to Italian North American culture.]

 

Malpezzi, Frances and William M. Clements. Italian-american Folklore. Little Rock, AR: August House, 1992.

[An excellent introduction to and survey of elements of Italian-American folk culture. Contains an thorough and quite useful bibliography.]

 

Mangione, Jerre and Ben Morreale. La Storia. New York: Harper-Collins, 1992.

[Covering five centuries of the Italian-American experience, this is result of more than a collected century of the authors' gathering, digesting and disseminating information on Italian/American culture. Combines historical narrative with encyclopedic information.]

 

Mathias, Elizabeth and Richard Raspa. Italian Folktales in America. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1985.

[A presentation and analysis of the folk tales and personal oral narratives of Clementina Todesco who immigrated to America in the early 1930s from a village in northern Italy.]

 

Parrino, Maria, ed. Italian-American Autobiographies. Providence, RI: Italian Americana Publications, 1993.

[Introduced by Richard Gambino, this publication includes an essay by Parrino entitled "The Uses of Autobiography," along with three short autobiographies by immigrants and children of Italian immigrants.]

 

Peragallo, Olga. Italian American Authors and Their Contribution to American Literature. New York: S.F. Vanni, 1949.

[The first attempt to list the accomplishments of American writers of Italian descent.]

 

Tamburri, Anthony J. To Hyphenate or Not to Hyphenate: the Italian-American Writer: an "Other American." Montreal: Guernica Editions, 1991.

[In this essay, Tamburri not only offers an explanation of our use of the hyphen, he questions the arbitrary construction of rules which most of us take for granted. In that questioning he reveals how they contribute to the distance our society has created among its cultures. A manifesto of sorts, this essay advocates the place of Italian-American writers in American literary culture.]

 

Vitiello, Justin. Poetics and Literature of the Sicilian Diaspora. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1993.

[This reading of Sicily through oral histories of people of the village of Trapetto bridges American and Sicilian cultures. It is a thorough presentation and analysis of the oral and literary traditions of Sicilian culture.]

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