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Italian Canadian Culture in the New Millennium :
Insights from Anthropology
Sam Migliore
Margaret Dorazio-Migliore

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Original Publication Citation
Migliore, Sam and Margaret Dorazio-Migliore. "Italian Canadian Culture in the New Millennium : Insights From Anthropology."
Italian Canadiana. 22 (2008) : 97-103. Print.

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Italian Canadian Culture
in the New Millennium:
Insights from Anthropology1
Sam Migliore and Margaret Dorazio-Migliore
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
When we first heard that the Department of Linguistics and Languages
(in association with the Faculty of Humanities) at McMaster University
was hosting a conference on Italian-Canadian Culture in the New
Millennium, we thought it was a wonderful idea and quickly agreed to
volunteer a presentation for the conference.2 As the date of the event
approached, however, we began to fear that the conference would serve
to reinforce mistakes from the past by focusing solely or primarily on:
(1) prominent individuals, often male, from Italy's distinguished past
or, in this case, from the Italian presence in Canada; (2) Italian Canadian
achievements in the "high culture" of literature, cinema, and theatre;
and (3) the accomplishments of Italian Canadian entrepreneurs.
Although these themes are important for an understanding of the
Italian Canadian experience, they tend to direct our gaze towards a narrow set of phenomena (and the key individuals associated with these
phenomena). These themes do little to help us understand the everyday
life experiences of immigrants, and their Canadian-born children. In
fact, by concentrating on these themes, we risk trivializing the experiences of the vast majority of Italian Canadians (see also Harney).
Fortunately, the organizers and, to a large extent, the conference participants, were open to expanding the discussion to make room for alternative topics and themes.
From our point of view, it is the lives of ordinary people, as lived in
locations across Canada, that should receive a prominent place in the
1 The present article has not been previously published. The case history, in
modified form, however, will appear as part of a full length article on Italians
and Aging for a forthcoming edited book on culture and aging.
We acknowledge the support of both a Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council grant and financial assistance from Kwantlen Polytechnic
University in making the research for this paper possible.

Italian Canadian Culture in the New Millennium,
Italian Ccmadiana, Vol. XXII, 2008, 97-104

Margaret Dorazio-Migliore amd Sam Migliore

Insights from Anthropology

study of Italian Canadian culture in the new millennium. This line of
enquiry is very much linked to our personal interest in the use of ethnographic research methods to address the interrelationships between
meaning and people's everyday life experiences (see Dorazio-Migliore;
Migliore, Mal'uocchiu). The focus on lived experience, however, is not
something unique to an anthropological perspective. A number of
prominent Italian philosophical and literary figures display a similar
interest. Giambattista Vico and Vincenzo Console, for example, both
stress that literature, at its best, maintains a strong link with lived experience (Bouchard and Lollini), while Gioia Timpanelli (Sometimes the
Soul) demonstrates the power of beautifully written prose that is deeply
grounded in a people's folk tradition. In Behind Closed Doors, a collection
of short stories, Maria Messina addresses the plight of Sicilian women
during the early part of the 20th century. Her work serves as a challenge
to the patriarchal structure of Sicilian society, by focusing explicitly on
the lives and sufferings of women—mothers, wives, and children—who
remained behind, as many of the men traveled to "La Merica." And, as
a further example from the McMaster conference itself, Corrado Paina
presented a moving, powerful discussion of some of the recent experiences of Romanian migrants in Italy, through the innovative idiom of
experimental poetry.
The difficult question becomes: how do we accomplish the goal of
understanding the everyday experiences of Italians across Canada?
What does it mean to be Italian in Canada, or Italian Canadian, when
there are significant differences among people in terms of: (1) whether
they were born in Canada or Italy (or in some third location, such as
Argentina); (2) what part of Italy they, or their parents, were born in; (3)
the length of time they have lived in Canada; (4) where in Canada they
reside; (5) gender, age, and socioeconomic differences; (6) religious affiliation, and the degree of commitment to that religion; (7) their Italianlanguage skills (and degree of acculturation in general); etc. As a solution to this dilemma, we suggest that researchers would benefit from
following the lead of Luigi Pirandello and Ludwig Wittgenstein, to
embrace the notions of subjectivity, ambiguity, and variability as key
components of both research design and interpretation (see Migliore,
Mal'uocchiu and "From Illness Narratives").
A recurring feature of Pirandello's work is the tension between
"life" (or "reality") and "form" (see Tilgher; Caputi). Reality, from this
point of view, is in a constant state of flux; it is characterized by ambiguity, vagueness, variability, and continual change (Pirandello, On
Humor, 137; see also One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand). People,
however, find this flux of life problematic. We thrive on order and consistency. As a result, we tend to construct a series of forms - abstractions,
concepts, images, generalizations, and so forth—that attempt to trans-

form "what is changeable and fluid" into objectifications that appear to
be much more concrete and stable (Pirandello, On Humor 140). Through
this process, according to Pirandello, people give meaning to themselves, others, and their everyday life experiences. Since the flux of life is
constantly generating change, we must continuously adapt to life's circumstances by constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing our
very conception of reality (see Migliore, Mal'uocchiu).
Meaning, then, is context dependent; it varies cross-culturally,
cross-historically, and cross-situationally. What it means to be Italian in
Canada, or Italian Canadian, depends more on what people say and do,
than it does on any definition of the concept itself (see Wittgenstein). To
bring the discussion back to Pirandello, concepts such as "Italian" or
"Italian Canadian" become similar to characters in search of an author
(Six Characters). Rather than struggle to identify what it means to be
"Italian Canadian," we argue that it would be more fruitful to conduct
a series of case studies - in various parts of Canada, with people of different backgrounds - to address how individuals experience and give
meaning to their reality in specific circumstances.

98

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Constructing a Therapeutic Landscape
With the preceding ideas in mind, our paper now focuses on a specific
example, a Roman Catholic prayer group devoted to the Blessed Virgin
Mary. The group consists of women primarily, although not exclusively, in the 65 to 85 year age range. Our aim is to provide a glimpse into
the group's regular activities, and to address briefly the significance of
group participation for people's physical, psychological, social, cultural, as well as spiritual well-being.
Gruppo di Preghiem - An Ethic of Well-Being
Many years ago, in a large urban centre of southern Ontario, the Sisters
of the Nursery School of Mother Mary organized a prayer group for immigrant women of Italian background.3 As the Sisters became more and
more involved in other work they found it difficult to maintain the
prayer group. Rather than disband completely, some of the women
agreed to meet in private homes to pray and say the rosary.
The current Gruppo di Preghiem came into existence in the late 1980s,
when Zia Rita began to host the prayer meetings on a regular basis.
We have changed the name of the nursery school for purposes of anonymity.
To protect the identities of study participants, we also make use of pseudonyms to refer to specific individuals and, in places, we have changed some of
the details people described to us.

1

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Margaret Dorazio-Migliore amd Sam Migliore

According to Zia Rita:
Piano, piano. One day after another. We began to get together one day
a week, and it is now sixteen years since we formed the group.... We
began with five, then six, then ten, and now we are more than forty
that come together to pray in this group. And, with the help of God
and the Madonna we have been able to accomplish all this.

Although the number of women attending a specific session may
vary, the group tends to meet every Tuesday afternoon in Zia Rita's
basement-recreation room (where she has a large statue of the
Madonna, and many other symbols of both their Roman Catholic faith
and their shared Italian background).
Gruppo di Preghiera devotes a great deal of time to prayer; at the
same time, however, it serves as an important vehicle for social activity.
The daughter of one of the original group members, a woman who
recently passed away, provided this account:
I used to take my mother there... They all said the rosary together, and
then they had coffee and cake—more of a get together, as well as a
prayer group. And, to give... elderly women who looked after their
husbands and families a time-out for themselves... And that gave them
a time to be together and just enjoy... what they liked to do, like saying
the rosary, enjoying the old hymns... and songs that they used to sing
in their various regions of Italy. They just enjoyed the afternoon with
Rita. And, they looked forward to it. Every Tuesday my mother went,
and she looked forward to it. Nothing came in her way to miss this little outing... That was number one priority for Tuesday afternoons.

These weekly sessions provide participants an opportunity to
socialize, obtain news about one another (and their respective families),
provide support for those in need, and to work together towards
achieving common goals. In 2003, for example, group members contributed and collected funds to purchase a beautiful altar cloth for a particular church in southern Italy.
Participants look forward to attending the prayer sessions, in part,
because they enjoy each other's company. At the same time, the sessions
give them the opportunity to address their spiritual needs, while providing a service for others. Zia Catarina participates in the prayer sessions for the following reasons:
I go because it is good for the soul. You feel lighter when you come
out... We pray together...and we became friends... I say the prayers
for myself, for my whole family... We pray for our people that passed
away, for the people that are sick and in the hospital, for the people
who are separated, for the people who need prayer but don't pray, we
say the prayers for them.

Insights from Anthropology

101

Zia Rita elaborated on some of these points:
We pray for all the people that have a great need for our prayers.
In reality, many people don't have faith, but prayer gives strength.
And, with prayer, we can move ahead. It gives us help to increase our
faith, and to be more Christian...
Prayer is even stronger than medicine... True miracles can happen... At the moment, we are praying for [a group member's] son
[who is gravely ill with cancer]. We pray that he will be saved.... I,
myself, am saying a novena to Santa Rita...
So, it is very important to pray, to have a great deal of faith... in
God. One must never feel discouraged, because with discouragement
come many bad things.... Without faith, without prayer, we are finished. There is nothing. The world is in ruin. So we pray a great deal
for the world, for all these wars, for all these drugs.... We are children
of God, and God wants us to always be faithful, and with faith we will
arrive closer to him...

Zia Catarina and Zia Rita believe that prayer is important for both
physical and spiritual well-being. Through prayer, they express their
faith, seek spiritual assistance for themselves, and ask God, sometimes
through the intercession of the Madonna or one of the saints, to assist
those in physical and spiritual need. In a sense, they are providing a service to their immediate families, their community, and others around
the world. Providing this service allows them to maintain a positive
self-image of themselves. They may be in their senior years, but there is
power in prayer, and through prayer they can accomplish a great deal
for others.
For these women, then, the Gruppo di Preghiera serves many purposes. In some respects, we suggest, it constitutes a therapeutic landscape.
Initially, the concept of a therapeutic landscape was used in geography
to refer to how the "physical and built environments, social conditions,
and human perceptions combine to produce an atmosphere which is
conducive to healing" (Gesler 96). In recent years, some scholars have
modified the concept to include the role of both physical and figurative
space in discussions of health and well-being (see Gastaldo). The prayer
sessions take place in a physical location. Zia Rita's basement-recreation
room serves as the physical space where group members engage the
spiritual through prayer, in the midst of numerous cultural and religious symbols (ranging from images of God and the Madonna, to symbols of Italianness and family life). At the same time, in our view, the
group itself serves as a figurative space. A space from which they can
interact with one another, pray for loved ones, maintain links with
those who have passed away, and provide a service for others. In other

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Insights from Anthropology

Margaret Dorazio-Migliore amd Sam Migliore

words, these women have constructed a Gruppo di Preghiera that helps
to promote, and provide a vehicle for the expression of, a sense of •wellbeing among participants. They have accomplished this, in part, by cultivating a sense of belongingness among group members, and by providing each other with a space or place that stimulates the types of social
and spiritual interactions that they associate with a buona vecchiaia or
"good old age." A buona vecchiaia that links them to Italy, their place of
birth or ancestral home, and to everyday life experiences and challenges
here in Canada.
Conclusion
Our discussion of Gruppo di Preghiera is based on an anthropological
approach that weaves together various ethnographic methods, with
insights from both geography and the philosophical ideas of certain
Italian literary figures. This approach allows us to examine both people's life experiences, and the meanings they attach to these experiences.
Although we believe that this is an effective way to gain an understanding of Italian Canadian culture, we recognize that this focus on
experience can be accomplished from a variety of perspectives and
approaches, and that there are numerous scholars that are currently
engaged in this type of research.
At a more general level, however, we believe that any attempt to
study "Italian Canadian culture in the new millennium" is likely to
encounter serious problems (see also Anselmi), unless researchers
embrace the notions of ambiguity, variability, diversity, and continuous
change. Any attempt to arrive at an overall Italian Canadian Culture, in
our view, will only lead to superficial generalizations that, at best, misrepresent or ignore the everyday life experiences of the vast majority of
Italians in Canada. There is no one Italian Canadian Culture, but rather
many individual and shared "Italian Canadian" experiences of reality,
in different regions and communities across the country. What it means
to be Italian Canadian, or Italian in Canada, will vary based on people's
experiences in specific locations, at particular moments in time. Our
goal should be to try to understand these moments both in isolation, and
within the wider context of: historical stability and change; the intersections of gender, age, and socioeconomic differences; and, how people link these life experiences to their cultural and ancestral identity.
The Gruppo di Preghiera is not made up of prominent males in the
Italian community, and it does not engage in the high culture of literature or the arts. These women, however, are an integral part of the
Italian experience in Canada. This is precisely the type of group that
would be missed or ignored if we do not expand otir focvis for the study
of "Italian Canadian culture in the new millennium."

103

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