The Difference Between Italians and Italian-Americans
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When I first came to Italy from the United States, I had certain expectations of what Italian people and culture would be like. Basically, I just took for granted that Italians in Italy would be just like Italians in America. All my Italian-American friends are always proud to tell you just how Italian they are, even if it means pointing out a distant relation; they all wear the jerseys of Italian soccer teams and talk of their moms' "authentic" Italian dishes. Basically anything with the Italian flag on it is automatically desirable to show pride in their heritage.
As it turns out, Italians are not like Italian-Americans at all.
Italians are one of the least proud populations in the Western world. Since ancient times they have been divided by region, as each part of the country has had its own distinct culture. Within this, each town is often very self-contained and unwelcoming of foreigners. The only place you see the Italian flag is on government buildings.
Historically, each region has spoken a completely different version of Italian, to the point where differences in accent are noticeable from town to town, let alone from Milan to Naples. Sicily has basically been on its own, and the mafia rose to fill that power vacuum. Not until the Italian Unification in 1861 was the Italian language as it is today, which is merely the dialect spoken around Florence, recognized as the national language. Before this, people from different regions could not even communicate with each other.
In general, northerners have always looked down on southerners for being primitive, more or less the Italian version of calling them "rednecks." Sicilians especially have never been taken seriously in the rest of Italy, especially the north. Today, the Northern League, a conservative political party, wants to separate from the rest of Italy.
Since Italy was not created with the idea of a single state in mind, they have a different idea of nation than Americans do. Whereas America is relatively new, Italians have inhabited the peninsula since ancient times. They were only united in 1861, when Garibaldi fought his way up the peninsula and claimed Italy as a state. However, this didn't change the traditions and customs that had always existed.
When Italians immigrated en masse to America, a new and foreign land, they logically banded together. It was only once they had arrived that Italians gained this sense of pride and identity. Those from Sicily, Lazio and Tuscany, who would likely never have seen eye-to-eye in Italy, would now be brought together in America.
Over many years, this crystallized into what exists today, where the majority of Italian-Americans have not even visited Italy, let alone speak Italian. They plaster bumper stickers and wear t-shirts that exaggerate their "Italianness" in search of a way to be different, to have a unique identity. In Italy, few people are proud to wave an Italian flag.
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Very accurate representation of the reality
That`s a lot of .......BULL SHIT.
Italians are very proud to be ITALIANS. They ...unlike Americans are NOT crazy about their flag.
Some of this view is accurate, some is not. You seem to have a bias against a particular type of Italian Americans. My grandparents are from Italy and migrated to the United States. My family has tried hard to preserve the traditions of my family's native city of Bari while living here in the US, and I think they've succeeded well in doing so. I speak fluent Italian and really do eat authentic Italian dishes regularly and have visited Italy many times. Don't get some Italian Americans who are close to their heritage confused with the "guidos" that there seem to be so many of. And by the way, Italians from Italy are VERY proud of their country, I don't know where you got the strange idea that they are not.
you suck...italians are very proud of being italian...and just because they don't wave the italian flag or wear italian t-shirts doesn't mean they are not proud. For most italians, being italian is enough, they don't feel the need to publicly display this to the rest of Italy.
btw-you are obviously NOT italian so how the hell would you know anyway?!?!? go back to America already and eat a hot dog with ketchup
wow i didnt know that plz tell me more
I AM A 2ND GENERATION AMERICAN OF ITALIAN HERITAGE. ALL I KNOW IS WHEN I AM IN ITALY, I FEEL AS THOUGH I CAME HOME. I AM WELCOMED AND I LOVE ITALIANS. I FOUND THEM TO BE VERY, VERY PROUD OF THEIR COUNTRY, AS I AM OF BOTH COUNTRIES.
Good historical background. Interesting.
Hi, i was born and raised in Florence (IT) and i am currently an international student living in Sacramento (CA).
The view that you gave is pretty accurate, and i believe the main reason is, how you wrote, the need to create an identity when in a complete new world.
Italy is deeply divided, people are proud to be from their city (and sometimes even from their "hood"), not from Italy.
Why would the flag hold a meaning if it is barely 150 years old? Compared, for example, to the Florence flag that has an history of over 800 years.
Obviously when a massive (over 22 millions in few decades) amount of people emigrate, they need to find somehow a common identity, even more if they tend to be discriminated.
I myself feel way more proud to be italian here in the US than when i am back home in Italy.
I mostly agree... But why you think "Sicilians especially have never been taken seriously in the rest of Italy"??? Let me tell you one thing, people from the rest of Italy (north and south) don't take seriously people from NAPLES nowadays... Honestly I don't know any people who look down Sicilians but I know people who look down Napolitans. Sicilian "mafia" is probably more famous because of the American movies but now Camorra (frome Naples) is the more powerful...
I'm Italian:)
I love italians i dnt care if ure frm the northern or southern part of your country italians are beautiful. Aweson hair.skin tone and i love the accent i think its sexy.
I am Italian living in the north and I can tell you that this article is very true!
I visit America and Italian Americans are not the same, I feel ashame that they even have Italy connected.
Italian America is not like Italians at all.
Older Italians tend to have more of a feeling for thier region or even thier province over the entire country. Similar to saying one is a New Yorker first then an American.
Hmm...it is not that simple, Italians are very complicated. Some of the impressions the american friend had are very correct and also the historical facts reported are very true, we named our land Italy in 1861 but we truly became a nation after first world war when so many died to free the very northern cities of Trento and Trieste and ..hey let's not forget so many southern young italian guys gave their lives there. Yes, italians have different regional traditions and the dialect is changing every 2 miles yet and all those differences make our country so special. We wish we could keep only the good pecularities of each region...but we have to accept all, and work hard to defeat the bad ones. Flag...ops italian flag was waving a lot during the misfortunate 20 years of Mussolini..it was waving even too much and italian were even too proud to be italian even too nationalistic...too much too much, then the tears and blood the shame on our political mistakes and the fear that waving the flag a lot could be mistaken with that extreme nationalistic fury that dragged italy to the disaster. These days flags are waving back more and more the wounds of world war 2 are healed and forgotten, hmm...let's try not to forget them completely!I am very proud to be an italian tollerant respectful citizen. Ciao Ciao:)
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sophs 2 years ago
Great hub, very interesting, although I have alot of family in Italy (full Italian) and they're proud to wave their flag. Keep hubbing :-)