January-December 2010, vol. 1

This volume publishes some presentations fromthe conference entitled ‘Towards distant lands.From stories of migration to a new idea ofcitizenship’, which took place in Orvieto, 14 to16 April 1994. The conference and the bookboth examine the meaning of key terms such as‘distance’, ‘land’ and ‘multiculturalism’.Numerous essays debate whether the migrationprocess promotes cultural dignity and thepreservation of ethnic identity and the effect ofthe integration process on this notion.Cigognetti, Luisa; Servetti, Lorenza (eds.), 3.Migranti in celluloide. Storici, cinema edemigrazione, I Quaderni del Museodell’Emigrazione, Foligno: Editoriale Umbria,2003.Volume 3, ‘Migranti in celloide’, investigateshow the Italian film industry gave specific andcareful attention to the phenomenon ofimmigration and the movement of peoples –from southern to northern Italy, betweenEuropean and trans-oceanic nations andbetween the east and west of theMediterranean. Such films take into account thetypes of problems common to all migrants who,confused by unfamiliar routines and surrounds,are forced to assimilate into a new, different andsometimes crude reality.Franzina, Emilio (ed.), 4. Traversate. Le grandimigrazioni transatlantiche e i racconti italianidel viaggio per mare, I Quaderni del Museodell’Emigrazione, Foligno: Editoriale Umbria,2003.A voyage ‘by sea’ solicits a sense of fantasy andevokes popular notions of adventure, dramaand spontaneity. This book alters this somewhatillusory notion through interpretation of firsthandstories and experiences of migrants whomade the long and demanding transatlanticjourney by ship.Morelli, Anne (ed.), 5. Gli italiani del Belgio.Storia e storie di due secoli di migrazioni, IQuaderni del Museo dell’Emigrazione, Foligno:Editoriale Umbria, 2004.Italian immigration to Belgium has been ongoingsince the 1700s, continuing well into the lastcentury. Morelli takes a chronological approachtoward the economic and political aspects ofthis phenomenon. He does not treat them astwo disconnected ideas but rather as twoaspects that intrinsically cohabit and intertwinethroughout and within the migratory process.Paoletti, Gianni (ed.), 6. John Fante. Storie di unitaloamericano, I Quaderni del Museodell’Emigrazione, Foligno: Editoriale Umbria,2005.John Fante is considered one of the mostimportant American writers of the twentiethcentury.His novels and stories are now deemedclassic contemporary American literature,despite their Italo-American setting. Yet for thisexact reason, they are also testimonies to life, tocustoms and to the psychological and socialcomplexities of the Italian migrant community inthe United States. Fante repeatedly succeeds inrendering the multicoloured frame of theItalian-American sensibility, exemplifying thecontroversial desire to preserve the memory ofmigrants’ origins and the yearning to fullyintegrate into the modernity of the Americanworld.Tanzilo, Robert (ed.), 7. Milwaukee 1917. Unoscontro tra italoamericano, I Quaderni delMuseo dell’Emigrazione, Foligno: EditorialeUmbria, 2006.On 9 September 1917, a group of alleged Italianmigrant anarchists in Milwaukee collided withpolice who were protecting a meeting ofprotestant clergy, also of Italian background.Two of the migrants were killed and a furthereleven were arrested. Following a trial steepedin anti-Italian prejudice, all were condemned to25 years in prison for “conspiracy with intent tokill” and ultimately deported to Italy. AuthorRobert Tanzilo uses this case study to illustrateprejudice and aversion to Italian immigration inthe United States.Museo Regionale dell’Emigrazione PietroConti, Concorso video nazionale. MemorieMigranti, III edizione, Roma: Night and Day TV,2007.Each year, the Museo Regionaledell’Emigrazione Pietro Conti, in cooperationwith the Institute for Contemporary UmbriaHistory, holds a competition for the best videotestimonial on Italian emigration abroad. Theinitiative is aimed at promoting the recovery ofthe Italian migration story throughout the world,from the end of the 19 th century to the presenttime, as well as furthering research and studieson its historical, social and economic aspects.The shorts must illustrate the emigrationexperience through individual, family- related orcommunity-based stories. As an additionalchallenge, they must also endeavour torepresent broader perspectives on other relatedthemes (i.e. reasons for leaving, the journey,employment and labour issues, femaleemigration, Italian communities abroad, theintegration process, cultural clashes etc.).This DVD commemorates the third year of thecompetition and comprises the 2007 winnersand finalists. The DVD provides over four hoursof film and is divided as per the competitioncategories: Stories and characters; Universityand Masters; Journalists; Secondary Schools(Grade 1); Secondary Schools (Grade 2); andExtra Features.Museo Regionale dell’Emigrazione PietroConti, Concorso video nazionale. MemorieMigranti, IV edizione, Perugia: Grafica VideoAvi News, 2008.Edited by Daniela Menichini and Catia Monacelliand with introductions by journalist Piero Angelaand Italian film director Giuliano Montaldo, thisDVD presents the winners of the 2008 MemorieMigranti film competition. Extra features includea ten-minute informative presentation on thework and research endeavours of the MuseoRegionale dell’Emigrazione Pietro Conti.Tosi, Luciano (ed.), La terra delle promesse.Immagini e documenti dell’emigrazione umbraall’estero, Foligno: Electa/Editori UmbriAssociati, 1992.This paperback catalogue, generously illustratedwith emotive black and white photographs,complements the 1992 exhibition of the samename. Coordinated and curated by Luciano Tosifor the Institute for Contemporary UmbrianHistory, the catalogue focuses on Umbrianemigration from 1890 to 1950. Particularattention is given to Umbrian emigration toFrance, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland,Australia, Canada and Latin America.Museo Regionale dell’Emigrazione di GualdoTadino, Lontane Americhe, Magliano Romano:Italy Italy Enterprises Srl, n.d.This catalogue accompanies the photographicexhibition, Lontane Americhe: sogni, danze e56 | IHSJ ITALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 18 2010