Call for Chapters- Teachers of Italian language and literature in the United States during the 19th century

Proposal submission deadline: March 31, 2017  

*EXTENDED DEADLINE: May 15, 2017*

The 19th century witnessed a constant growth of the interest in Italian language, literature, and culture in the United States, thanks to the dedication of Italian scholars, such as Lorenzo Da Ponte, Eleuterio Felice Foresti, Pietro Bachi, Luigi Monti, Piero Maroncelli, Antonio Gallenga, and Vincenzo Botta, among others. The teaching of these subjects in colleges and in universities by expatriates who worked as college and university professors as well as private tutors not only contributed to disseminating Italian civilization within the U.S. cultural elite, but also helped strengthen the relations between Italy and the United States, eventually increasing the political support for the independence and unification of the peninsula.

For some of these teachers offering Italian classes was only a means to make a living once they landed in the United States, but all of them had to overcome the hardships of being in a foreign country and the prejudices towards an idiom that was considered less important than French and Spanish. The Italian teachers were able to confer linguistic dignity to the Italian language and literature, to make the Italian culture a sign of refinement in the eyes of the upper classes, to stimulate appreciation for Italian art, history, and music.  

Nineteenth-century Italian teachers in the United States were the subject of pioneering research by Howard R. Marraro, Joseph G. Fucilla, and Francesco Cordasco. This edited volume intends to deepen the latter’s early findings and to cast new light on those personalities against the backdrop of subsequent scholarly developments such as, for instance, the transnational turn in migration studies.

We welcome English-language and thought-provoking biographical essays about single Italian immigrants who taught Italian language and literature in the United States during the 19th century.

Please submit an abstract of 250-300 words and your CV to duccilucia@gmail.com by March 31st. Please also note that this is a final date. Authors may expect to be advised of their acceptance or otherwise by April 28th.  The volume will edited by Lucia Ducci and Stefano Luconi and it will be published by Vernon Press.

Contact Email:

duccilucia@gmail.com