Distinct Italian Culture

Italian children who grew up in the 40s and 50s did not realize that they were a second & third generation of Italian American citizen of the United States. Italian American assume that this was the way of life. The first generation instill a powerful belief of the way of life into the second and third generation. Everyone stay together and live together.

Life in Italy in the 1930’s caused difficulty to some Italians during that time period. During the 1930’s a large number of Italians who had opposed the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini arrived in the United States. After the news spread in Italy about the bombing of Pearl Harbour almost all Italians supported the war against Benito Mussolini. At this point, Italy was slowly becoming under the Nazi rule, the significance of a woman’s role in Italy was emphasised as they were expected to accept the fascist ideology. Girls were expected to get married and conceive lots of children. Many young women in Italy felt the pressures of politics that were dominated by men and felt that women’s rights were disappearing

I would always take walks after fights with my family, and it’s not as if I was going to change that in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I left our hotel, the Bauer Palazzo, stepping onto the Calle Tredici Martiri. One of the things I loved about Venice were the names of the streets and canals. I didn’t understand the meaning, nor was I able to pronounce it with ease, but when I heard them spoken my heart melted. People said that French is the language of love, but Italian is infinitely times more beautiful. We were booked to leave Venice for Marseille tomorrow, but I refused. That’s what lead to this fight with my parents. They didn’t like being in Italy. They grew up in Milan, but they left as soon as they were able to. The

I am an Italian-American, two very distinct cultures that have shaped me throughout my entire life. My father is a full-blooded Italian and my mother is American. They met when my mother moved to Italy for business and about 13 years later I was born and 2 years after me, my brother. We all moved to California in 2001, when I was almost 4 years old, because my mother is from California.

In the late 1800s, millions upon millions of Europeans made their way to America for a variety of reasons. For the citizens of Italy, those reasons included poverty and political hardship. For many Italians, farming was their livelihood, however the antiquity of their tools did not allow for maximum efficiency. As a result, approximately 5 million poor Italian farmers made the trip across the Atlantic to America. While most settled in New York and the surrounding states, some journeyed elsewhere to states like Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Once they arrived, they would take the vacant positions of workers on strike making up to ten times the salary they would have made in their homeland.

The Italians’ holiday culture helped to make America a more diverse nation. Their family-centered culture and regional affiliations resulted in highly concentrated settlements called, Little Italies. Entire villages in Italy would travel over to America to form these settlements. Many were heavily clustered in cities in the mid-atlantic and midwest states. The immigrants typically viewed themselves as residents of a particular region or village, not as “Italians.” Their daily habits and life reflected this, as they usually only associated with fellow kin or villagers called paesani. The Italians were working on becoming a member of American society while still trying to maintain their old customs. During holidays, Italian immigrants still utilized traditional customs such as folk songs, folklore, and dances for special events. However, like so many of the Italian aspects of life, they were so regionally specific that they defied easy characterization.

Italians take great pride in social interactions. Humor, agreeability, reliability, and success in business and in social life are valued over assertiveness, and health, family, serenity, and financial security are the highest valued attributes to Italians.

Chapter 3 discusses the background of the Italians who came to the United States. Italy had free elections in the South, but the corruption from criminal organizations and nobles influenced politics. Southern Italy had a large part of the population until the late twentieth century and peasants worked in agriculture. The central government was weak and ineffective. Italians had strong family bonds and children started working in fields at very young ages. Family is one of the key defining aspects of the Italians with household that usually had a father or husband. When they came to the United States they migrated largely within New York and a large percentage were men. Typically residing in Little Italy neighborhoods, and having low

Appearance is considered very important. Italian people are generally well dressed and may expect others to be the same.

The Italian population in America originally emigrated from the southern half of the Italian peninsula. The people of this region were peasants and had experienced great economic hardships under the rule of the Spanish and then the Italian government and nobles from the north. It was these economic hardships that formed much of their culture. According to Maggio (2015) Italians from the southern region felt a strong obligation to their families and did not trust outsiders. As Italian families began immigrating to America they had a difficult time assimilating into American culture because of their mistrust of outsiders and their desire to maintain their family traditions. Maggio (2015) stated that “Little Italy’s” began in several major

Individualism explains the degree of interdependence amongst members of a society. In individualistic societies, members are socially expected to look after themselves and close family only in most circumstances. In collectivist cultures the opposite occurs, members belong to ‘in groups’ which take care of them in return for their loyalty (Cohn & Russell, 2015). While Italy is considered a moderately individualistic society, compared to the US a drastically individualistic country, it is seen as collective. Italians are renowned for taking care of themselves and immediate families as depicted by their world-renowned mafia cartels such as the Sicily mob. The more collective nature of Italian society compared to the US can be seen in various

The culture of Tuscany during the renaissance was distinguished by its fine arts caused by the Roman Empire taking over of Constantinople, which brought Greek knowledge of math, science, architecture, and the arts to the Tuscan region. In this particular time period, (1429-1519) if it were not for the introduction of new understandings in math and science, the Tuscans would not have had the advancements in art and architecture we use to this day. To further expand on this topic, we must look into additional aspects of Tuscany's culture including geography, work, folkways, and religion.

Chapter 7: Colors in Italian Colors are used to describe people and things around us. In Italian, most colors are declined to agree with the gender and number of the word being described. Examples: un cane nero a black dog una macchina gialla a yellow car quattro cani neri four black dogs 3 case bianche three white houses

and steal. S. Tepper (2017) informs it’s disrespectful to talk-back to your elders. Stephen finds that it’s highly frowned upon if grace isn’t said before each meal. Stephen claims that the most celebrated holiday in the Italian Culture is Christmas (S. Tepper, personal communication, October 2017). Gathering with friends and family around this time is very important. Celebrating the birth of Christ and eating a meal with family and friends on this day is highly honored. S. Tepper (2017) explains that in his culture it is believed starting fresh with the new year and forgetting tensions with others is very affective.