Overview

Approaches Italian American literature from new critical perspectives and explores contemporary and understudied voices from both the United States and Canada. Italian Americans on the Page fills a significant gap in Italian American and Italian diaspora studies, particularly literature, as it explores four genres—fiction, poetry, memoir, and theater—from a variety of critical perspectives. The first section of the book offers reconsiderations of two canonical authors, Helen Barolini and Don DeLillo, while the other three sections bring new attention to understudied Italian American and Italian Canadian writers, including women and LGBTQIA+. These include Mary Jo Salter, Peter Covino, Louise DeSalvo, Karen Tintori, Juliet Grames, Ben Piazza, Salvatore Antonio, Christopher DiRaddo, Michele Linfante, Chris Cinque, Theresa Carilli, Mary Melfi, and Michaela Di Cesare. Each contribution approaches Italian American and Italian diaspora studies through a unique theoretical lens, adding to the richness of what proceeds this publication in the field. Ultimately, the volume offers rereadings of foundational Italian American works and provides newfound attention to understudied and emerging Italian diasporic voices.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ryan Calabretta-Sajder (Associate Professor of Italian and Director of International and Global Studies, University of Arkansas) ,  Alan J. Gravano (Assistant Professor and the Writing Center Director, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions)
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.395kg
ISBN:  

9798855804003

Pages:   278
Publication Date:   02 April 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Rethinking the Past and Bridging the Future of Italian American Studies Ryan Calabretta-Sajder and Alan J. Gravano Section 1: Rereading the Italian American Canon: Intersectionalizing the Narrative 1. ""Who Will Buy My Marriage Spread?"" The Economy of Affectsand the Construction of a Diasporic Domesticity in Helen Barolini's Umbertina Francesco Ferrari 2. Dietrologia: Italian American Heritage and the Conspiracy ofPostwar Whiteness in Don DeLillo's Underworld Bryan M. Santin Section 2: Confessionalism in Italian American Poets: Moving Beyond Categories 3. Hidden Roots: Mary Jo Paradise Salter and the Subtle Presence of Italian-ness Alan J. Gravano 4. Queering Italian American Poetry: Peter Covino's Cut Off the Ears of Winter: Psychoanalysis, Performativity, Language Ryan Calabretta-Sajder Section 3: Blurring the Past, Redefining the Future: Italian Americans and Memoir 5. Memoir and the Invention of Italian American Experience: A Tribute to Louise DeSalvo John Champagne 6. Criminalizing Desire: An Intersectional Approach to Patriarchy's Monsters in Karen Tintori's Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian American Family and Juliet Grames's The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna Mary Jo Bona and Jessica Maucione 7. The Very Queer Truth: Ben Piazza's Italian Southerner Douglas Steward and Tracy Floreani Section 4: From Page to Stage: Italian Americans and Italian Canadians 8. Queer Intimacies in Italian Canadian Literature Domenico A. Beneventi 9. Daughter-Mother Borderlands in Contemporary Italian American and Italian Canadian Theater Colleen M. Ryan List of Contributors Index

Reviews

""This is an invaluable addition to the field of the Italian American studies. While offering new critical approaches to both canonical and noncanonical works, it also extends our understanding of LGBTQ writing in poetry, fiction, and dramatic literature, and it expands the coverage of Italian Americana to include the North American contributions of Canadian dramatists whose work builds on the coverage of traditional concerns with family life and turmoil."" — Josephine Gattuso Hendin, New York University

Author Information

Ryan Calabretta-Sajder is Associate Professor of Italian and Director of International and Global Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Alan J. Gravano is Assistant Professor and the Writing Center Director at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Together, they are also the coeditors of Italian Americans on Screen: Challenging the Past, Re-Theorizing the Future.

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