I enjoyed reading through the Introduction because it pretty much gave a summary of each story and explained the key points. It gave me a sense of security. When I go to read the short stories for myself, there is a chance that I will need to reference the introduction for context or understanding. I noticed an overall theme of subversion, irony and humor. It seemed to come up in almost every, if not all of the story summaries. If it was not the protagonist, then it was another character that would choose to assimilate to the new culture of where they immigrated. And even when it was self-deprecating, humor made it’s way into the literature. There seemed to be a lot of mockery and imitation of integration as well as the paradox of identity and what it means to be defined by what you once were and who may be trying to become. Pages 25 and 26 were my favorite because they concluded it well, reminding us, the readers of the goal and purpose of these narratives. In the first paragraph on page 25, there is a quote that says, “Man is the lord of the word he stores in his belly, but he is slave to the words that he lets out of his mouth WHAT AM I? I am a heap of words that speaks and always keeps some truth in silence.” This makes me think of the control that we have over our abilities and ourselves. One can only go as far as they want and allow themselves to go. Even with telling the truth and saying what needs to be said, sometimes maturing and knowing what you want and how to get it means to know what to say, when to say and when to be silent. There is so much power in that quote alone. Then throughout the last two paragraphs of the Introduction it says what this anthology is and how it is about how “new writers confront the issues of otherness, difference, marginality and integration.” Then it furthers to say whom it is for and how it is “an invitation for scholars of Italian and migration studies to explore the complex shifts occurring in contemporary Italy. This anthology highlights the testimonies that migrants make visible and therefore they add their voices to the political sphere that devotes so much space to debates on who and what migrants are.” Though we have spoken in class or even individually about what this book can do for us and what we will find in it, the fact that it is laid out clearly in the introduction means a lot to me and I appreciate how well written and thoughtful the Introduction was.
The short story “Salvation” was really interesting to me because though he mentioned his salvation, I looked at him as the savior. People were counting on him to be able to make it to their dreams, and up until the end, he had the heart to do so. He helped his cousin for an amount of time until he was deported and in a way, that was “salvation” for his cousin because he was rescued of whatever circumstances he left in his host country. I suspect that he is from India because I know that he is Muslim, but I do not recall a specific reference to a place in the text. However he did not assimilate himself completely to Italian culture. He mentioned not knowing how to make a certain ethnic food but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he had intentionally forgotten or didn’t care to know. I found it interesting that he was against cell phones and the new time of depending on technology. That was enough proof to me that he has not forgotten where has come from, because even with something as prevalent as technology, he has his own opinions on them. The story was a nice and easy read overall.
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