ABSTRACT
The following is an analysis of how Italian Americans in Chicago construct their ethnic identities. Through extensive interviews, ten Italian Americans answered a series of questions that made inquiries about how they form their ethnic identities and whether stereotyped images in the media hold true in their personal experiences. At the foundation of this study is Herbert
Gans’ theory of symbolic ethnicity, which suggests a difference between “being ethnic” and
“feeling ethnic.” For example, there are certain factors such as food, media, culture, and traditions that may influence how one can “be” ethnic or “feel” ethnic, and this study explores how these factors impact or influence Italian American ethnic identity. These interviews explore which qualities define what it means to be a “real Italian” and the reasons why there is a distinction between “real Italians” and those who are not. Lastly, with acculturation as a defining pattern of interaction, it will be determined if the participants in this study feel that their
Italian heritage has become “Americanized.”
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Some of my fondest memories include times my entire Italian American family gathered together for holidays, birthdays, and family parties. I come from a family of phenomenal cooks.
For example, I remember walking through the back door of my great-grandmother’s house and being taken aback by the smell of fresh spaghetti sauce. My Grandma Galullo filled her favorite pasta bowl with her homemade spaghetti and sauce, along with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
The aroma of tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley and ground beef simmering on a hot stove is a scent that will always stay fresh in my mind. Her spaghetti was complete perfection, from a secret recipe that has been passed on throughout our family. Recently, my family developed a cookbook that incorporated recipes from various family members. Everyone included their favorite recipes as well as family pictures. Each section of the cookbook is introduced with pictures of our family, followed by the actual recipes. This cookbook serves as proof that food is an important aspect in the lives of Italian Americans, or at least in my Italian American family.
The kitchen is a place of gathering and socializing. For Italians, the kitchen is the focal point of a house and family. Meals represent a sense of community and camaraderie. Food brings people together and allows individuals to enjoy meals, share stories and reflect on memories. Just as there are certain ingredients for recipes, so too are there ingredients that form an identity. Italian
Americans construct their identities through the ingredients of food, media, stereotypes, family, religion, traditions, and customs.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Theorists have found ethnic identity to be a fruitful subject for analysis, especially in the
United States where ethnicities may compete with another. There are many topics about Italian
Americans that contribute to their ethnic identities.
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STEREOTYPES IN THE MEDIA
Alessandrini (1982) analyzed films such as The Godfather and addressed how Italians are viewed in the media by proposing that society relates to images in the media rather than a realistic version of Italian Americans. Films such as The Godfather stereotype Italians as racketeers, lovers, artists, showmen, mobsters, criminals, and family men (Alessandrini 1982).
Further, Quinn (2004) studied the role of Italians in The Sopranos , and described a lawsuit against The Sopranos because the show supposedly damaged the reputation of Italians by representing Italians as gangsters. Quinn claimed that the negative images of Italians are because of the “Sopranos Syndrome,” an Americanized myth of created images of Italian
Americans.
CULTURAL STEREOTYPES
Ethnic Neighborhoods
Krase (2006) posited that cities were constantly changing and Italian colonies were formed when Italians immigrated to the United States; these ethnic colonies eventually evolved into Little Italies. A significant number of Little Italies were centered around churches in neighborhoods. For example, Saint Anthony of Padua was a church in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago where Italians once congregated. This particular neighborhood made
Saint Anthony of Padua church a focal point of their culture.
The Role of Women
Golden (1978) argued that society does not acknowledge the history of Italian women because of a significant focus on stories about Italian gangsters. Golden defined this image of
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Italian women as the “Mamma Mia” image, arguing that Italian women are stereotyped as
“women distinguished by the ample breasts of motherhood, wearing the flowered housecoat of domesticity, and brandishing the stirring spoon of spaghetti sauce” (Golden 1978:353). Like
Alessandrini (1982), Golden blamed The Godfather image for stereotyping Italian women with their only purpose to be wife, mother, and caretaker.
The “Mamma Mia” stereotype is a term that often defines the role of women in Italian communities (La Sorte 1994). The origin of this term can be traced to the solidarity of the Italian
American family and the acceptance by many of the “traditional” woman’s place (La Sorte
1994). La Sorte (1994) argued that the “Mamma Mia” stereotype is only part of the public imagination. For example, La Sorte (1994) noted that “Mamma Mias” in literature took on roles within the home and anything outside the home that had little importance. He also described the stereotype that women are happy being ignorant to new world ideas and complicated technologies. To the “Mamma Mias”, the outside world did not matter; the whole life of a
“Mamma Mia” was lived through her husband and children (La Sorte 1994).
Identity
Ferraro (2005) described how Italians entered into the mainstream culture of the United
States and explored what it means to be Italian in America and how Italian identities are constructed. Ferraro hoped that his works would encourage people to think about their heritage, relationships, and ethnic identification. Contrary to Ferraro, Alba and Chamlin (1983) claimed that little attention has been given to literature on ethnicity. After looking at studies that focused on identity of certain ethnic groups, Alba and Chamlin (1983) claimed that the way Americans identify themselves is often too ambiguous. Ethnic identification, the way in which individuals describe themselves by a single group, is a key issue in recognizing ancestry. By looking at
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several variables that relate to ethnic identifications of immigrants, Alba and Chamlin (1983) determined that assimilation plays a major role in how people define themselves.
Further, Zhou (1997) studied how immigrant children connected themselves to their country of origin and examined findings from recent research on the sociology of immigration.
Literature on immigrants shows that ethnic groups assimilate to the dominant culture in the hope adapt to the structure of American society. Zhou (1997) found that immigrant children lack a connection to the old world because their behavioral patterns favor the new world. Assimilation theory suggests that immigrants need to liberate themselves from their old cultures in order to adapt to the United States culture.
Sanders (2002) reviewed studies of ethnicities in multiple societies. He concentrated on ethnic identification by studying how identity is socially constructed by insiders and outsiders of different cultures. According to his research, ethnic identity emerges as a result of social processes. Cultural traits of certain ethnic groups are constructed by both members and nonmembers of the group. Sanders described ethnic groups as “ethnic networks,” much like social organizations. Sociologists have stated that the concept of social organization embed certain characteristics and formations of each ethnic group, thus resulting in ethnic identification.
Cross Culture
The Italian culture is considerably different than other cultures. Italians emphasize familism, personalism, and individualism. Isolani (1990) explained that the Italian culture was vastly different than the American culture and thus not understood by Americans. Isolani described the relationship between Italian Americans and non-Italian Americans as groups of people that did not understand each other. Since groups of Italian Americans did not understand the customs and traditions of other Americans, there were stereotypes formed. According to
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Isolani, Italians did not understand American emphasis on teamwork, grassroots organization involvement, and volunteerism. Both groups were not very informed about how different cultures worked. Because other Americans could not speak Italian, the Italian communities needed to learn English. Soon after there was a common language established among immigrants, Italians were able to straddle multiple cultures and continue to maintain familistic goals of their culture.
Family
Family is the most central aspect in the life of Italian Americans but is often a concept that is stereotyped by others. Salamone (1994) found callous attitudes toward Italian Americans and their families. Salamone observed a newspaper article that described four traits of Italians relating to marriage, ideas of satisfaction, and gambling. According to what Salamone read,
Italians marry early because it is figured that should the marriage fail, ample time is still available to find a different spouse. Moreover, the article claims that women do not clean the house and men are satisfied with messiness, which adds to the claimed sentiment that Italian satisfaction is the equivalent to less than average. Finally, the article alleges that Italian men are addicted to gambling, which leads to Italian families living in poverty. These four characteristics exemplify some of the negative attitudes towards Italian immigrants.
Shaffer (2006) interviewed several Italian Americans, determining that families were emotional support groups that openly discussed feelings and ideas central to individual family members. Rispetto , a good virtue or habit, is something that is learned, practiced, and taught by the family. In order to provide an example that shows the significance of family for Italians,
Shaffer (2006) referred to the movie Moonstruck . The movie illustrates a sense of how
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ItalianAmerican families operate and often refers to the importance of family, life in the Old
Country, and good food. The notion of rispetto is perfectly demonstrated in this movie.
Food
A paramount part of the Italian culture is their strong taste for the finer cuisine. Poe
(2001) articulated popular images of Italian Americans after reviewing images of abundant meals of pasta, tomato sauce, meatballs, garlic bread, and straw-wrapped bottles of red wine. For many immigrant groups, food symbolizes ethnic identity. The particular type of food that Italians cook represent a sense of home back in Italy, thus forming the image of Little Italies in ethnic neighborhoods. Italian cooking is extravagant, demonstrates good fortune, and respect towards
God.
Heritage
There are many components to the cultural heritage of Italian Americans as described by
Belfiglio (1986) who defined five attributes of Italian Americans that have been stereotyped.
These attributes were membership in the Roman Catholic Church, pride in the achievements of
Italy in the fields of music and art, knowledge of Italian terms and phrases, knowledge of customs pertaining to the preparation, cooking and eating of Italian cuisine, and familiarity with
Italian games, folk music, dances, and other forms of entertainment. Belfiglio argued that all
Italians do not need to recognize all of these characteristics to be considered Italian. He said that while some Italian Americans abandoned their heritage after moving out of the Old World culture, many kept their heritage with them daily.
THEORY
Many people struggle to form their identities, particularly Italian Americans because of
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their struggle to maintain cultural integrity to the “old country” and a challenge to adapt to their new lives in the United States. The theorist Herbert J. Gans (1999) described symbolic ethnicity, suggesting a nostalgic allegiance to one’s original culture and feelings of pride in cultural traditions. Thus, ethnicity is about “feeling ethnic” versus “being ethnic.” Gans (1999) explains that ethnic identity includes factors such as food, festivals, and language that relates to a culture.
While this theory of symbolic ethnicity can be applied to many ethnicities, it is particularly useful to apply to Italian Americans living in the Chicago area.
Gans (1999) explained that the term “Italian” has become shorthand for “Italian
American.” Many generations of Italian Americans identify themselves as just “Italian” and do not reference that their place of birth is, actually, the United States. Gans found that other ethnic
Italian Americans identify themselves this way, particularly people living in Italian communities in large cities like Boston and Chicago. These “Little Italies” were places where people of Italian heritages felt they belonged and followed many traditions that their ancestors valued from the old country in Italy. Acculturation had a large impact in the United States, where Italian immigrants incorporated their Italian culture into their American lives. Many people focused on food traditions as a way of continuing their Italian culture. Traditional dishes, such as spaghetti, were cooked regularly by the women. Food was a significant identification in the lives of many
Italians and was connected to family life because cooking involved socializing with family and friends.
Gans (1999) also described the pattern of language in Italian Americans and says that language is “local” because it has been passed from generation to generation and has been used frequently by all members of the family. The Italian language was learned by each generation as a way to communicate with the original immigrants. Thus, second generation Italians do not
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identify with Italy as much as first immigrant generations, partially because traditional language disappeared over the years as many Italians felt pressured to assimilate to American culture.
Original immigrants associated with other Italians, but later generations were more likely to have social ties outside of the Italian community and to identify themselves more as American than
Italian. However, Italians had a difficult time getting along with other ethnicities because of preconceived stereotypes among different cultures.
Richard Alba (1990) built upon Gans’ notion of symbolic ethnicity in his book Ethnic
Identity
. No matter how strongly an individual relates to a quality of an ethnicity, their “symbolic identity” is not represented in their daily actions and way of life. If an ethnic identity does not have substance in the everyday lives of individuals, symbolic ethnicity is present. Cultures can be represented through four characteristics: language, food, holiday festivities, and ceremonies.
Part of being ethnic for many people is to eat ethnic foods from that originated in the old country, use common words or phrases from their culture, and following ethnic traditions and customs. Cultures are based on rituals and practices that maintain that culture. Alba points out that aspects of many cultures are founded on a particular language, known as the mother tongue.
Language denotes ethnic boundaries because it excludes those who do not know the language.
Food and language celebrate ethnicities and allow participants to appreciate their heritage. Thus, ethnic groups define themselves based on these characteristics.
Since ethnic cuisine is a major component of ethnic identities, Alba (1990) suggests that the popularity of certain cuisines relies on their availability in supermarkets and restaurants. He uses pasta dishes as an example for Italian Americans. Only 85 percent of the Italian American population eats Italian cuisine occasionally and 60 percent of American residents that were born in Italy eat Italian food about once a week. Thus, people who identify themselves as ethnic may
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be more likely to eat food corresponding to their heritage. Alba also found that the consumption of ethnic cuisine is higher for those who think ethnic identity is important and people who are of mixed ancestry consume ethnic food less frequently. Furthermore, even those who do not consider themselves ethnic consume ethnic foods related to their heritages.
Alba (1990) also notes that in order for an ethnicity to exist, ethnic traditions should be celebrated everyday and whether European Americans maintain ethnic traditions. Alba (1990) observed Americans who practiced ethnic traditions regularly, finding that traditions are not present, there is no symbolism that represents a particular ethnic group. This shows that people choose few characteristics to demonstrate their ethnicity, which raises the question of whether this is real ethnicity. The idea of an ethnic identity without long-lasting cultural traditions represents Gans’ notion of symbolic ethnicity. If identity is linked to cultural patterns, and if an individual thinks of himself as ethnic, he or she will exhibit stronger cultural patterns.
In an article about her personal ethnic identity, Carmela Sansone- Pacelli (1985) discusses the challenges of measuring up to her identity as an Italian American. Pacelli (1985) recalls negative Italian American stereotypes she experienced throughout society and particularly in the media. Pacelli explains that ethnic identification is defined as dedication to a group based on common ancestry. Pacelli also assessed the relationship between self acceptance and ethnic identification, finding that there is no relationship between these two variables, which implies that ethnic identification is no longer a significant factor in individuals’ self-acceptance. This may be because Italians have become Americanized and the traditions are not as strong as in the past.
Vecoli (1985) also studied Italian American identity, holding that a definition of ethnic identification does not exist because there are too many factors that contribute to ethnic
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identification. Vecoli believed that Italian Americans have become mostly American as a result of moving into a post-industrialism society, which resulted in an identity crisis. Vecoli examined the 1980 U.S. Census, which asked European Americans about their ancestry; 12 million people responded that they were “Italian,” but never mentioned they were born in the United States.
Vecoli (1985) further found many immigrants remained loyal to their traditions, but the second generation of Italians felt stuck between the worlds of Italian and American. This second generation remained close to their families while ambitiously seeking to make a good living and become “real Americans.” They tried to escape the stereotypes of being “wops” by leaving their
Italian ethnicities behind.
Mary Pecoraro Cawthon (1987) explains her struggles as a person of both Italian and
Albanian heritages. “When I am asked about my ethnic background. . . I say that I have an Italian name and that my parents were both from Sicily, but we always spoke Albanian . . . and think of ourselves as Italo-Albanians” (Cawthon 1987: 51). Cawthon questioned what it truly meant to be a “real Italian.” She wanted to be apart of both ethnicities and found it difficult to have two different identities.
METHODOLOGY
Interviews were conducted with Italian Americans from the Chicago area to learn how they construct their identities using ethnic concepts. The interviewing process was a good technique that allowed the participants to tell their stories.
PARTICIPANTS
The participants of this study were 10 of my family members and friends. The gatekeeper for my study was my father, Anthony Galullo. Participants were chosen based on convenience
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and availability, resulting in a non-random, purposive sample. Being from the Chicago area and a member of this family allowed me more access to my participants. The sample was stratified by age. I placed two or three participants into one of four age ranges (18-19, 20-30, 40-50, and
75-85). Each age group had an equal number of participants for consistency. There were two participants in the age groups 18-19, 20-30, and 40-50. There were three participants in the age group 75-85. Participants were interviewed during the summer months May through August,
2009. Interviews were structured around factors that relate to the formation of an ethnic identity.
Questions focused on how participants formed their identities.
PROCEDURE AND MATERIALS
I composed a list of twenty-eight questions that were given to each participant one week prior to their interview. A copy of this list of questions is attached in the appendix. Interviews were recorded and written down in a log with the permission of the participants. The participants were given the opportunity to request the recorder be turned off for any portion of the interview.
Participants were also given the option to end the interview at any time they felt uncomfortable.
As the interviews were tape recorded, interviews were transcribed and the tapes of these interviews were destroyed. The average length of each interview was 45 minutes.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
There are several strengths of my study. For example, being an insider gave me advantages to my study. I easily understood the culture that the participants were describing. I also had background information from their lives that contributed to my general knowledge of the subject. As I am Italian and a member of the Chicago community, I related to the stories that
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the participants shared. Also, the way I organized the participants by age group made for a consistent data collection.
A weakness to this study is that all participants reside in the Chicago area. Therefore, the selection of participants was limited and not selected at random. By choosing family members and friends as participants, it could be argued that this is a weakness due to interviewer biases.
Further, another weakness is that I had a small number of participants. If I ever choose to expand on this research, I would use random selection of a larger group of participants, raise more questions, and explore regions outside of the Midwest.
FINDINGS
Background Information
All 10 participants in this study have been living in the Chicago area their entire lives.
Out of 10 participants, three are second generation Italian Americans and are above the age of
75. These participants live in Italian American communities that are at least 85 percent Italian.
Three other participants are third generation Italian Americans are between the ages 37 and 50; they live in Italian American communities that are 20 percent to 100 percent Italian. Two participants are 21 years of age. Both estimate that at least 40 percent of their community is
Italian American. Lastly, two participants are 18 and 19 years of age and are fourth generation
Italian Americans. Both live in an area that is no longer populated with Italian Americans.
Views on the Media
Five out of ten participants did not think that images in the media accurately portray the lives of Italian Americans, the other half were unsure. Half did not think films such as The
Godfather contain accurate accounts of what it means to be Italian. “[ The Godfather ] should be
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about mobsters, not Italians. That’s what gives Italians a bad name.” While six interviewees thought that Italians are portrayed in a bad light, two thought they are portrayed in a good light, and two were unsure. In particular, a member of the third generation felt that Italians are portrayed in a bad light:
Overall, [they are portrayed in] a bad light. It goes back to the gangster/mobster thing, stereotypically speaking. People would always come up to me and say ‘Hey! Yo! You’re
Italian!’ Just like the voices of the characters in
The Godfather . People put stereotypes on everything.
One participant, a fourth generation Italian American, felt that The Godfather tends to send the wrong messages about Italians Americans:
I think people shouldn’t base their ideas off of
The Godfather
. It’s not the same as being
Italian in the 1940s as it is today. If they want to know, they should ask someone who is
Italian. It might be a good way to know the history in a cultural lesson, but not something you want to base your knowledge of Italians on.
Seven out of the ten participants felt that Italians are not always the wine-drinking, pasta-eating gangsters that society makes them out to be. One participant said that Italian
Americans are just hard-working, proud, down-to-earth people:
I think the wine-drinking, pasta-eating [is true], but I don’t think the gangster image is necessarily true. It’s hard to tell though. You can go to New York and Chicago and still see the gangs, but I haven’t experienced any of that. Wine and pasta because that’s a huge part of what it means to be Italian, along with the family atmosphere.
Italian Identity
All interviewees were asked how an Italian identity is formed. Five participants related being Italian to being proud and five relate it to being loyal. Three described Italians as hardworking and five mentioned family values. Further, interviewees were asked what factors make individuals Italian. Four noted that appearances make people Italian, stating that an Italian identity is about looks, personality, and lifestyle. A real Italian is someone who is proud of their
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family life and heritage. One must be proud of their lifestyle. An Italian identity is not formed; it’s in the family name and in one’s blood: “You don’t form [an identity]. You stay grounded and believe in what you were taught by your mom and dad. It surfaces on its own.” One participant recalled conversations with his grandfather that shaped his Italian identity: “Talks with my grandpa have shaped me into being more Italian. It has shown me a true value of what it means to be Italian.” Essentially, an Italian identity is a learned behavior passed on through generations.
One participant recalls their childhood:
I find it interesting how you grow up. You learn things that are Italian and not. You just learn it because you don’t know better. So many things have been here for so long.
You’re instantly family when you talk to someone who is Italian. We’re all so alike. You don’t have to worry about awkwardness because you have that bond. Italians always have a ‘person.’ For example, my dad has a ‘car guy’ or a ‘this guy or that guy’ he talks to.
Traditions and Customs
Participants admitted having a difficulty in thinking of all of their traditions and customs because there are so many. All participants ate Italian meals regularly in their homes, sometimes served with wine. A significant tradition mentioned by everyone is how holidays, birthdays, and baptisms are celebrated. All celebrate holidays with their families and remember “Seven Fishes”, an assortment of seven different kinds of fish, at Christmas celebrations. A member of the third generation reflected about past Christmas Eve traditions:
On Christmas Eve, we have Seven Fishes for dinner. Also, when we greet one another, we always give kisses on the cheek, whether it is to a man or woman. Up until a couple of years ago, we used to make our own sausage. But we still make our own spaghetti sauce. One last tradition I can think of is the gift we give to our daughters on their sixteen birthdays. We give them a pair of diamond earrings. Nothing flashy, but something to mark their sweet sixteen.
One participant in particular talked about customs that are still prevalent from the old country by addressing the celebration of saints:
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The core is the church. We used to have parish festivals for St. Joseph, St. Anthony, Lady of Mount Carmel, and St. Alexander. At those times, there would be saint processions.
The saints would be in gowns that had patches for money that people would donate to the church. My aunts were in charge of sewing on those patches. My father was one out of twelve men that carried the statue. I was the altar boy that served for those masses. The money raised went to the Saint Anthony’s parish festival. The whole neighborhood smelled like sausage. There was a ton of home cooked food like calzones and pepper pizza. Everyone knew each other and took care of each other’s families.
Participants felt that younger generations will not learn Italian traditions and values unless they talk to older people about traditions and values specific to their family.
Gender Roles
Every participant identified women in their households as the homemaker and the men as the breadwinner. One participant noted that men have a more active role in the lives of their children than men did in the past:
Men are the breadwinners, but that doesn’t seem to be apparent all the time. You see men look after the children and take them everywhere today, just like the wives. They do things we were never allowed to do. Now, husbands can participate more with the kids.
Before, we weren’t even allowed in the delivery room. Men were just around to keep the kids in line.
Women were described as housewives who raise the children. Some noted that women have more of a role than just raising the children, but are responsible for paying the bills and making sure the house is in order.
Little Italy
Four participants lived in a community in Chicago called Roseland. Roseland is known for being a “Little Italy.” When asked to explain what “Little Italy” meant, all participants noted a sense of community. It is a community of Italians where people have the same faith and ideals.
Little Italies have everything families need: church, grocery stores, schools, restaurants, and
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shops. An 82 year old member of the third generation describes a Little Italy as a community that has everything one would need:
It’s basically an area where people live. They have traditional places that were there for years. Most Italians own the restaurants, but some other groups owned local groceries and drug stores. Either way, it was primarily Italian.
In essence, Little Italies are a small taste of Italy. Roseland was surrounded by numerous industries that provided work for many Italian Americans. However, in the 1960s, violence and crime rates skyrocketed, forcing many Italian Americans to leave and find safer places to live.
After leaving Roseland, many feel that there will never be another Roseland. One member of the second generation who is 78 years of age reflected on life in Roseland before the neighborhood changed for the worse:
Italians are good citizens with plenty of devotion. We are hard-workers and we take everything seriously. There will never be another Roseland. To me, that was perfect. The time and the place.
Family
I miss Roseland, but I don’t regret leaving. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. We were one of the last ones to move out because of the gangs, crimes, etc.
It wasn’t safe as kids. It wasn’t safe for my mom and sister to even go to the grocery store. You had everything you needed in Roseland but it became too dangerous.
All participants admitted that family is the number one thing in their lives, except one who said that God is the number one thing in their life. As one participant said: “Nichole, I can’t even explain how important [family] is. There is a very close association with the family. We rarely saw divorces. Family is very, very important.”
Americanization
Nine out of ten participants believed that Italian heritages have been Americanized.
Although some felt that all heritages have been Americanized, participants feel that Italian
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heritages have been significantly Americanized, especially Italian food:
If you go to Rome, you can’t order spaghetti and meatballs. They don’t really have meatballs. So I think with the commercialization of food and the way our changing society is, heritages have been Americanized. Here, you get pizza and in Italy, it’s in a brick oven, fresh mozzarella and basil. It’s simple. Here, it gets lost by our society.
When asked if Italian heritages have been “Americanized,” one participant suggested that Italian food is everywhere. There does not appear to be many authentic Italian restaurants anymore.
I think so because even just with the food, who doesn’t like Italian food? Olive Garden isn’t Italian food. Everywhere you go, there’s some sort of Italian dish.
DISCUSSION
Images of Italians in the media and society are extremely iconic. From movies like The
Godfather to television shows like The Sopranos , the media sends stereotyped messages about
Italians. The participants I interviewed did not claim The Godfather and The Sopranos as accurate accounts of Italian identity. To the interviewees, the mobster and gangster image in the media is incorrect, but messages about food, family, and religion are very accurate images that symbolize their Italian identity.
The interviewees do not want to be known as gangsters and feel that this image does not represent Italians as a whole. Participants believe if people want to understand real images of
Italians, they should ask someone who is Italian, rather than relying on the media for generalized and stereotyped images. Most participants gave examples of their home life, their lifestyle, and how they grew up. These factors are more important than any other image that has been stereotyped about Italians. They want to make it known that Italians are fun, down-to-earth, loving people. Not all Italians are gangsters and mobsters.
Italian identities are learned behaviors socialized from birth. Participants discussed how it is the responsibility of the parents to educate their children about being Italian. Children
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generally grow up with Italian identities as an inherent part of who they are. Italian Americans in
Chicago construct their identities based on roles within the family, participation in the community, how they treat their family, and the traditions that are practiced. Overall, tradition plays an important role in how Italian Americans are educated about their heritage. If traditions and customs are not passed down through generations, the Italian heritage will not survive. A fundamental aspect of being Italian American is teaching generations about the lives of their ancestors as well as traditions and customs that have been in the family forever. The key components of Italian American identity recommends that there is a difference in “being ethnic” and “feeling ethnic”, thus suggesting that following traditions and customs represents a person that “is ethnic” and one who does not just “feel ethnic.”
Italian Americans in Chicago focused on family as the most important part of their lives, a factor that, to them, has been correctly stereotyped in the media. For Italians, family is everything. This may be because of the fact that upon immigration to the United States, Italians did not know anyone but their family members. The family was a unit that could always be relied on. When immigrants had little money, they knew they could always count on their family as a support system. As working and living conditions improved for Italians, values of family were still taught and practiced. Further, religion was another part of their lives that was always present and served as a safe place and consistent role in the lives of struggling immigrants.
Because Little Italies emulated life in Italy, it can be assumed that first generation Italians did not assimilate to the dominant culture. Rather, they formed their own communities that had everything that would be needed- grocery stores, restaurants, churches, and schools. The second generation Italians tended to adapt to the dominant culture more than their parents did. Since the community was somewhat of a safe haven for Italians, they relied on the community as a small
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taste of Italy. Little Italies are places where everyone is the same and all come from similar walks of life. Knowing that everyone was alike offered an amount of comfort to Italians in the community.
All interviewees left their Little Italies because of increasing violence, gang activity, and crime in their communities. Based on interviewees’ responses, leaving Little Italy should not impact individuals’ identities. Traditions and customs will always be passed onto generations, no matter the location. Identities are shaped through socialization within the Italian American family. The dissolution of areas like Roseland forced many Italian Americans to scatter.
However, the individuals in this study remained close to their family members and still live in the Chicagoland area and, therefore, still pass an ethnic identity to the next and future generations.
Although I believe that this study was strong and interesting, I feel that there were a few problems that should be avoided if this research were to be repeated or expanded. Since research was performed in the summer months, Italian Americans I had originally planned on interviewing were on vacation. It seems that the summer months had more conflicting times than
I had anticipated between my working full-time work and my participants having limited amounts of free time. Further, because areas like Roseland are no longer safe places to visit, I was not able to accomplish an ethnography. In the future, it would be beneficial to research
Italian Americans in different locations and in months where participants were not on vacation and had more time available. I think it would be interesting to apply an ethnographical study to these interviews I have conducted and carefully observe the settings in which Italian Americans live and complete their daily activities.
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APPENDIX
Interview Questions
1.
Tell me about yourself.
2.
How long have you lived in the city of Chicago or its surrounding areas?
3.
What percentage of people in your community was Italian?
4.
What generation of Italian are you?
5.
Do you think images in the media accurately portray the lives of Italian Americans?
6.
Do you think films like The Godfather contain accurate accounts of what it means to be
Italian?
7.
Do you feel that the images of people like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin have set the precedence for what it means to be an Italian American?
8.
Are Italians the wine-drinking, pasta-eating, gangsters that society makes them out to be?
9.
Do you think society portrays Italians in a good or bad light?
10.
For you, what does it mean to be Italian?
11.
What kinds of traditions do you have in your family?
12.
What are some important Italian customs that have been present in your life?
13.
How often was an Italian dinner cooked in your home (per week)?
14.
How often was wine served at dinner or throughout a week?
15.
What was/ is the role of the women in your household?
16.
What was/ is the role of the men in your household?
17.
Have you ever been discriminated because of your Italian ethnicity?
18.
What do you think it means to be a “real Italian”?
19.
How do you form an Italian identity?
20.
What factors make you Italian?
22

21.
What is the notion of “Little Italy”?
22.
How important is family for Italians?
23.
What customs are still prevalent from the “old country”?
24.
Do you think Italian heritages have been “Americanized”?
25.
Are you proud of your heritage?
26.
Do you think younger generations still value traditions that you still value?
27.
What does it mean to you to be an Italian?
28.
How do Italians differ from other ethnicities?
29.
Are there other aspects of what it means to be an Italian American that you want me to know?
23

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Albanians.” Pp. 52-61 in Italian Ethnics: Their Languages, Literature, and Lives , edited by Dominic Candeloro. Staten Island, NY: The American Italian Historical
Association.
Ferraro, Thomas J. 2005. “Feeling Italian: the Art of Ethnicity” in America . New York, NY:
New York University Press.
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Gans, Herbert J. 1999. “Symbolic Identity” in Making Sense of America: Sociological Analyses and Essays . Rowman & Littlefield.
Golden, Daniel. 1978. “Pasta or Paradigm: the Place of Italian American Women in Popular
Film.” Pp. 350-357 in The Italian Immigrant Woman in North America , edited by
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La Sorte, Michael. 1994. “La Duse Women’s Club and the Mamma Mias: Type and
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Heritage, 1890- 1990
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Sopranos .” The Journal of American Culture 27(2): 166- 174.
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