The Autobiography of a Language: Emanuel Carnevali's Italian/American Writing

242 Pages·2019·1.21 MB·

by  Andrea Ciribuco

The Autobiography
of a Language
SUNY series in Italian/American Culture
—————
Fred L. Gardaphe, editor
The Autobiography
of a Language
Emanuel Carnevali’s Italian/American Writing
Andrea Ciribuco
Cover image: Arianna Pagliara, Landscape with Man and Suitcase. Reprinted by
permission of the artist.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2019 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ciribuco, Andrea, 1986– author.
Title: The autobiography of a language : Emanuel Carnevali’s Italian/American
writing / Andrea Ciribuco.
Other titles: Emanuel Carnevali’s cultural translation
Description: Albany : State University of New York, [2019] | Series: SUNY
series in Italian/American culture | Revision of author’s thesis
(doctoral)—National University of Ireland, Galway, 2016, titled Emanuel
Carnevali’s cultural translation : an Italian in Modernist America. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018040417 | ISBN 9781438475257 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781438475264 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Carnevali, Emanuel—Criticism and interpretation. | Italian
American authors—20th century. | American literature—Italian influences.
Classification: LCC PS3505.A72752 Z56 2019 | DDC 818/.5203—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018040417
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1. Translating Childhood, Decoding America 21
2. The Newcomer and the Splendid Commonplace:
Using English as a Second Language 45
3. Representing Italy in America 89
4. A Language for Bazzano: An Italian American Returns Home 133
5. Between the Atlantic and Oblivion: Carnevali in the 1930s 165
Conclusion: Emanuel Carnevali in the 21st Century 197
Notes 203
Bibliography 215
Index 225

Acknowledgments
This book would not exist without the support of the people and insti-
tutions who accompanied me in the journey through Carnevali’s works,
which started as part of my PhD research. I would like to thank the
National University of Ireland in Galway, which believed in me enough
to grant me the Hardiman scholarship in 2011; and all the friends and
colleagues who made it feel like home. In particular, Anne O’Connor and
Adrian Paterson proved to be the best thesis supervisors I could desire,
providing endless support and useful advice, motivating me constantly
to pursue my research goals and improve the quality of my work. Their
support and friendship, during and after the PhD, is invaluable.
Special thanks go to all the scholars who offered advice and guid-
ance during the path that led to this book—especially Paolo Bartoloni,
Beryl Schlossman, Loredana Polezzi, and John Paul Russo.
I would like to thank the staff of the archives who, in America
and Italy, have facilitated the search of material on Carnevali. In par-
ticular, I would like to acknowledge the great and continuous help I
received from Aurelia Casagrande of the Archivio Comunale di Bazzano
in Valsamoggia (BO), Italy—who did all she could to make my search
of archival material easier.
I am deeply grateful to the estates of Emanuel Carnevali, Ezra
Pound, and Kay Boyle for allowing me to quote and discuss material
present in the archives.
Vorrei ringraziare la mia famiglia per avermi insegnato il valore dello
studio e del lavoro; per avermi incoraggiato e aiutato negli studi, anche da
lontano dopo che avevo lasciato l’Italia.
Then there is Anna, whom I will never be able to thank enough.
Our marriage is, without any doubt, the greatest thing that came out
of all this.
vii
viii Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to all those people who, in 2019 as it was
in 1914, choose to leave their homes and embark on a journey in search
of a better life.
Introduction
Emanuel Carnevali, in Search of a Language
Emanuel Carnevali was an Italian intellectual in America, and an Ameri-
can writer born in Italy. Neither definition describes him completely, and
his career is the story of a long, troubled passage across linguistic and
national borders. This troubled passage, on the other hand, was strikingly
fertile: it gave us one of the first Italian-American bodies of work to be
recognized in American literary circles, as well as a crucial document
of the many possibilities and challenges that come with choosing one
language over another.
Carnevali was born in Florence in 1897, his childhood a prelude
to emigration: raised by his mother, Matilde Piano (who was separated
from his father, Tullio), Carnevali lived in Pistoia and then in the Pied-
mont towns of Biella and Cossato. After his mother’s premature death
in 1908, Carnevali was left in the care of his aunt Melania, and then
of his father. He was sent to a boarding school in Venice in 1911 and
then attended school in Bologna. Because of a conflictual relationship
with his father, Emanuel decided to emigrate. In March 1914, he left
for New York with his brother Augusto.
Carnevali lived in poverty in New York, doing menial jobs such as
waiter and dishwasher. In 1917, he married another Italian immigrant,
Emilia Valenza. He started writing poetry in English, and his first poems
were published in 1918; soon he was publishing poetry, short fiction
(most notably the series “Tales of a Hurried Man”) and criticism in liter-
ary reviews. His work appeared in many of the most important literary
reviews in the modernist circles of New York and Chicago, including
Poetry, a Magazine of Verse, The Little Review and Others. After moving
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