This article ethnographically examines the symbolic importance of seafood and its ritualized consumption in demarcating ideals of “authenticity” and “intangible heritage” in the famed Italian- American Christmas Eve feast, La Vigilia. The... more
This article ethnographically examines the symbolic importance of seafood and its ritualized consumption in demarcating ideals of “authenticity” and “intangible heritage” in the famed Italian- American Christmas Eve feast, La Vigilia. The Vigilia is a rite of intensification intended to revitalize a community in a climate of schism and “acculturation,” and a rite of incorporation for integrating American spouses into the family’s heritage. While continually transforming as participants entertain new culinary understandings, cultivate “Americanized” tastes, and integrate spouses into the ritual, the practices of selecting, preparing, and ritually consuming the Vigilia’s food serve to maintain traditional gender roles, reinforce ethnic bonds through commensality, and denote “authenticity” through taste preferences. Suggesting that authenticity is conveyed not through a particular object or its taste, but rather through intangible processes, the author argues that the Vigilia feast becomes a central means of negotiating the antithetical pressures of maintaining tradition and embracing social transformation.
Under fascism, many scholars who had been defined ‘incompatible’ with the regime for political or ‘racial’ reasons left Italy . This research focus not only the few cases of professors who were already well known at the time, but those... more
Under fascism, many scholars who had been defined ‘incompatible’ with the regime for political or ‘racial’ reasons left Italy . This research focus not only the few cases of professors who were already well known at the time, but those who represented the future of Italian science and culture, the young scholars and professionals who were expelled in an almost invisible way because of the anti Semitic laws. How did their experiences echo in the scientific community they belonged to, and how in the host community? What have been the consequences in the sciences and professions? International archival sources offer a huge amount of informations about those forgotten refugees from Italy; meticolous investigations allow to reconstruct where they moved and to trace their strategies for being helped by their personal networks and by international organizations. These biographies and the constitution of a data base enlighten a complicated and painful past which has remained hidden, and also show the relevance of the Italian culture abroad.
Under fascism, many scholars who had been defined ‘incompatible’ with the regime for political or ‘racial’ reasons left Italy . This research focus not only the few cases of professors who were already well known at the time, but those... more
Under fascism, many scholars who had been defined ‘incompatible’ with the regime for political or ‘racial’ reasons left Italy . This research focus not only the few cases of professors who were already well known at the time, but those who represented the future of Italian science and culture, the young scholars and professionals who were expelled in an almost invisible way because of the anti Semitic laws. How did their experiences echo in the scientific community they belonged to, and how in the host community? What have been the consequences in the sciences and professions? International archival sources offer a huge amount of informations about those forgotten refugees from Italy; meticolous investigations allow to reconstruct where they moved and to trace their strategies for being helped by their personal networks and by international organizations. These biographies and the constitution of a data base enlighten a complicated and painful past which has remained hidden, and also show the relevance of the Italian culture abroad.
