Stories of immigrants attract me a lot, especially the life stories of Italians who have come to America since the 1700s. In each of these stories I see elements of my own story, that of leaving my birthplace and family and creating a new life in a different culture and in a different language.
The child of Italian immigrants and an award-winning scholar of Italian literature, in the book My Two Italies Joseph Luzzi struggled to create or find his own identity from an early age. Even more problematic for him was "which" Italy to "choose," the one he inherited(继承) from his family, poor and linked to old traditions and customs he finds rude and somewhat cruel, or the one he finds in literature and art books that show him a country with a modern literary culture.
The choice becomes even sadder as in his professional life he becomes a scholar of Italian literature and culture. He describes episodes of his youth that show the clash between the first and the second generation immigrants that are both funny and tragicomic(悲喜剧式的). These episodes highlight the daily customs his parents brought from their hometown that are in conflict with Joseph's desire to "fit in" the American culture. Joseph's visits to Italy as a student and then as a scholar deepen the divide between his two Italies and highlight his quest for identity.
The author's personal changes are full of quotes and comments on the cultural and political landscape of Italy. I find that his insights on contemporary Italian cultural and political phenomena are particularly interesting. In this book, Joseph touches or comments in depth about several issues concerning Italian life, such as the relationship between dialects(方言) and the official "Italian" language, and the Southern "question" or the uneasy interaction between Northern and Southern Italians.
I enjoyed reading this book. It is personal, moving, educational and entertaining. I hope you will enioy it too!
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