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Huma E-148/W “The Organizer” Greenwich Village

Huma E-148/W “The Organizer” Greenwich Village. Elvira Di Fabio, Ph.D. Harvard Univ. Feb 13, 2008. Identity is non-static. Italio Calvino. Difficult lives .

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Huma E-148/W “The Organizer” Greenwich Village

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  1. Huma E-148/W“The Organizer”Greenwich Village Elvira Di Fabio, Ph.D. Harvard Univ. Feb 13, 2008

  2. Identity is non-static. Italio Calvino. Difficult lives. “This is the point: to make explicit the relationship with the world that each of us bears within himself, and which today we tend to hide, to make unconscious, believing that in this way it disappears, and yet…” Italian American…keep in mind

  3. “The Organizer”(Monicelli, 1963) • Labor conditions • Evidence of internal migration and integration • Linguistic diversity • Values, codes of conduct

  4. Labor conditions • Haughty upper-class Italians who saw little point in involving themselves with the problems of their poor compatriots. • Feudalism • Tarrifs aided industrialization in the North, wiped out budding industries in the South. • The collective (and the collections!)

  5. Internal Migrations • Not just from the South (e.g., Bergamo) • Cheap labor from the South • Why is the Sicilian called a “cannibal?” • Rebellion in Sicily. Turin, wanting to impress foreign nations with their ability to rule, sent army to squelch rebel activity. • Rumors: …”soldiers had been crucified, policmen burnt alive, and the flesh of carabinieri was sold in the marketplace.” • All gossip, but Sicily “was now branded as a region of cannibals.” (p.60)

  6. Linguistic Diversity • “General lack of national consciousness was to impede the process of Italian unification.” (Garibaldi) • Recall D’Azeglio, Pinocchio, Cuore. • The languages of Italy • French • Dialects of Italy • Albanian, Greek, Catalan

  7. Values, Codes of Conduct • “Avowed enemies of the Catholic Church.” Why? • Church ruled mind and body. Ancient legends taught morality. • “This stalwart and laborious class belongs to the priests, who make it their business to keep it in ignorance.” (Garibaldi) • Priest in “The Organizer” • At the funeral. • Religion is for the dead, not for the living.

  8. Values, etc. • Human authority is the source of all evil. • “…the greatest ill afflicting the southern populations is their lack of faith in legality and justice.” (Massara report)

  9. Consider this… • Why is the film considered a comedy? • Elements of commedia all’italiana • Realism, Natualism • Reference to Verdi’s Nabucco, why? • Va’ pensiero… • How would an American film differ?

  10. Consider this… • Title: I compagni vs. The Organizer • No heroes (pp. 41-42) • In the tradition of ancient Greece, St. Paul then is reduced to the level of a shrewd villager who looks out for himself first and, if there is time, helps his friends. • No happy endings • While the peasant protected himself as best as he could, with the helpof the saints, the Madonna, and the Church, he remained for the most part a fatalist, with a hopeless sense of inferiority ground into him by centuries of oppression.

  11. Carolyn Ware. Greenwich village 20-30’s • Locals are the Italians, Irish, Jews, etc. • Villagers: Anglo-saxons from less urban or urban settings • No common code (mobility, no hierarchy) • Differences in • Education • Social background • Wealth • Social standards • Money • Sex • Instituion of the family

  12. Differences in… • Education • Villagers enjoy literature, arts, music, pastimes of the locals, even the literate, ignored. • Locals valued food, practicality. • Social Background • Warped sende of values • V’s wealthy; locals poor • V’s: one bed per child; locals considered one bed per child a luxury

  13. Differences in… • Wealth • They had the same amount of money, but spent it differently. • V’s $50/mo for 1-2 adults, too low. • Locals $35/mo for whole family, too high. • Social standards • V’s were “ingenuous”, often gypped. • L’s were used to crowded squalor. • V’s: books, theater, rent • L’s: food

  14. Attitudes toward… • Money • Spendthrifts vs misers • Sex • Madonnas or whores • Institution of Family • V’s valued individualism (Protestant) • L’s valued community (Catholic) • V’s viewed large families as economic irresponsibility • L’s viewed V’s lifestyle as selfish and aloof disinterestedness.

  15. Hmmmm…. • Relationship worsened over time. Gulf grew. • Villagers became more unaware of locals. • V’s were adult invaders, unchanged by local culture. • Are you a local or a Villager? Why?

  16. Italy: Land of three migrations • Internal: • South to North. • Until 1980s “immigrante” referred to internal migration.

  17. Italy: Land of three migrations • External • The “Americas” • “Great hemorrhaging” • 1880-1926 USA So America Brazil, Argentina, Chile, etc.

  18. Italy: Land of three migrations • Migration to Italy • Since 1980s • From Africa • Eastern Europe • Latin America • Asia

  19. Effects of Migration on Culture • Internal: • standardization of language • External: • clusters of dialect speakers • patterns of assimilation • complete integration (South America); Brazilian, etc. • “melting pot” effect (USA); “Italian-American” • “mosaic” effect (Canada & Australia)--later migration • Migration to Italy: • new literature of “extracomunitary” effects appreciation of literature of migration.

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