Acculturation and sense of belonging: emigrated women in italian canadian short stories

Abstract

In keeping with current theories of migration and acculturation (Berry 1995; Berry and Hou 2016), this article seeks to identify the different stages of acculturation in relation to the concept of “belonging” outlined by Nira Yuval Davis (2006) in three short stories written in English by Italian Canadian female authors: Delia de Santis, Caterina Edwards, and Licia Canton. These emerging, first generation writers tend to concentrate on the cultural connections between Italy and Canada (Caporale-Bizzini 2018), and thus provide a meaningful contribution to both worlds. The varying nature of the protagonists’ bonding with their country of origin and that of their settlement will reveal how these relations affect the performative agency of fictional female Italian immigrants in Canada.

In linea con le attuali teorie della migrazione e dell'acculturazione (Berry 1995; Berry e Hou 2016), questo articolo cerca di identificare le diverse fasi dell'acculturazione in relazione al concetto di “appartenenza” delineato da Nira Yuval Davis (2006) in tre racconti scritti in inglese da autrici italo-canadesi: Delia de Santis, Caterina Edwards e Licia Canton. Queste scrittrici emergenti di prima generazione tendono a concentrarsi sulle connessioni culturali tra Italia e Canada (Caporale-Bizzini 2018), fornendo così un contributo significativo a entrambi i mondi. La diversa natura del legame delle protagoniste con il loro Paese d'origine e con quello di insediamento rivelerà come queste relazioni influenzino l'agency performativa delle donne italiane immigrate in Canada.