Ventidue club e associazioni creati dagli immigrati Italo-Canadesi/Laziali, che hanno, nel corso di alcuni decenni hanno ricostruito in Ontario, Canada, un proprio spazio sociale e preservato la propria identità culturale. Attraverso interviste, verbali, opuscoli e foto, l’autrice ricostruisce e documenta il percorso di queste realtà associative offrendo al lettore uno spaccato di vita italiana trasportato in Canada. L’attaccamento al luogo di origine, ancora oggi molto forte, è manifestato attraverso la conservazione delle tradizioni popolari del paese natale. L’opera descrive un vero e proprio patrimonio culturale conservato grazie al sentimento sociale di coloro che non vogliono dimenticare il passato. La difficoltà ad integrarsi, il desiderio di unità e la necessità di relazione hanno creato un micro-mondo dal quale, una volta entrati, si resta affascinati.
Twenty-two clubs and associations created by Italian-Canadian/Laziali immigrants, who have, over the last sixty years in Ontario, Canada, formed a social environment and maintained their cultural identity. Through interviews, minutes, commemorative booklets and photos, the author reconstructed and documented the journey and reality of these organizations, offering the reader a piece of Italian life transported to Canada. The attachment to place of origin, still vibrant today, manifests itself through the recreation of popular traditions from the place of origin. This work, unique in its content, describes a very real cultural legacy preserved thanks to the sentiment of those who desire to remember their past. The struggle of integration, the strong desire to stay united and the necessity to maintain relationships have recreated these micro-worlds, which once entered leave us intrigued.
Nota biografica sull’autrice
Caroline Di Cocco was born in Fontechiari, Frosinone, Italy. Her family emigrated to Canada in 1957 when she was six years old and raised in Sarnia, Ontario. Caroline began documenting Italian-Canadian stories since 1987, but her love of writing began since childhood. She co-authored the book One by One….Passo dopo passo… History of Italian Community in Sarnia Lambton…1870-1990. On her list of writing are chapters in the book Nuova Luce Su Caboto, edited by Gabriele Scardellato. She has been influenced to continue to delve into the topic of Italian-Canadian immigration by Dr. Gabriele Scardellato, the late Dr. Gianfausto Rosoli, Father Ezio Marchetto and has garnered inspiration from the many individuals she has interviewed over the last twenty-five years . Caroline has an ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and B.A. Honours Specialization in Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario. She was Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario from 1999 to 2007, sat on Management Board of Cabinet for four years and was Minister of Culture. She currently sits on the board of the Ontario Historical Society, is a member of the President’s Circle of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and is on the executive of the Italian-Canadian Archive Project (ICAP)