Families, Lovers, and their Letters takes us into the passionate hearts and minds of ordinary people caught in the heartbreak of transatlantic migration. It examines the experiences of Italian migrants to Canada and their loved ones left behind in Italy following the Second World War, when the largest migration of Italians to Canada took place. In a micro-analysis of 400 private letters, including three collections that incorporate letters from both sides of the Atlantic, Sonia Cancian provides new evidence on the bidirectional flow of communication during migration. She analyzes how kinship networks functioned as a means of support and control through the flow of news, objects, and persons; how gender roles in productive and reproductive spheres were reinforced as a means of coping with separation; and how the emotional impact of both temporary and permanent separation was expressed during the migration process. Cancian also examines the love letter as a specific form of epistolary exchange, a first in Italian immigrant historiography, revealing the powerful effect that romantic love had on the migration experience.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Source of description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed April 12, 2017).
Language note
English
Contents
"Excuse the errors, I'm writing at night by oil lamp ..." : postwar Italian migrants and their letters
"Even though distance has now kept us apart ..." : kinship across networks
"My dear, you will have nothing else to do but ..." : gender relations and dynamics
"My dearest love ..." : emotions at a distance.
ISBN
9786613090546
9781283090544
1283090546
9780887553028
0887553028
Doi
10.1515/9780887553028
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