From 'Sotto Voce' to 'Blue Grotto'

A stroll on Providence's Federal Hill is supposed to transport you right to romantic Italy, the guidebooks say. A historic campanile, a piazza with quaint coffee tables adjacent to the duomo, espresso bars that each sell caffè at exactly the same price, the cliché goes. Well, check out the picture of the piazza (Piazza Pasquale, I think?) -- and you will feel quite removed from the Tuscan charms of Siena.

Nonetheless, the place is an experience. Italian-ness is cultivated by second and third-generation Italian-Americans in rather droll ways. Italian heritage month celebrates "abbondanza" with classical Italian photography. Italian restaurants are happy to accomodate any Italo celebrity (or want-to-be celebrity) that comes to town -- Steve Schirripa of the series The Soprano comes to mind. And local Italian-American politicians happily join forces with more or less obscure social clubs. Frank Ciccone (see below) proudly announces his membership in Piave Lodge - Sons of Italy, Rosario Society, Calabrese Society, Verrazano Day Committee...

Yet, the mixture remains a funny cross-over. Casserta's pizza ("If you haven't had Casserta, you haven't had pizza") prides itself of inventing the Wimpy Skippy -- a spinach and meat-based calzone creation that looks very very solid and could hardly sell outside the US of A. What is conserved is an imaginary Italian-ness that probably never existed (and, in any event, has ceased to exist for a long time in Italy). Italian-ness becomes a shorthand for certain values that they themselves wish to stand for: food, savoir-vivre, family bonds.... The result is a droll caricature of Italy -- but, hey, let's admit it: a charming and touching one.

posted by Thérèse @ 10:21 PM