Ellis Island

Il "libro dei mutamenti"

Authors

  • Erica Verducci Università degli Studi Roma 3

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31273/polisemie.v1.605

Keywords:

Italian American literature, Italian-Americans, migration, Ellis Island, Italian diaspora, sonnets, borders

Abstract

Italian-American writer of the third-generation Robert Viscusi tells about the migratory tragedy of Italians in North America in his Ellis Island, a strongly innovative collection which combines history and autobiography. The poem consists of 624 sonnets unfolding through personal memories, historical researches and bold metaphors. The well-known opposition between earth and sea becomes here a match and a very realistic argument on the idea of transformation and mutability typical of a part of humanity that changes through migration. Ellis Island is the final place of changes, just as the poem itself, which can be read in the printed and static version, but also in the ever-changing, randomly generated one, available on the dedicated website by the author’s decision. A form in line with the content and its true meaning.

 

 

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Author Biography

Erica Verducci, Università degli Studi Roma 3

Erica Verducci earned her degree in Comparative Literature at “La Sapienza” University of Rome with professor Franca Sinopoli, focusing on autobiographies and diasporic writings. She continues with her studies in foreign languages and literatures specialising in Hispanic philology. She’s currently working on a critical edition of the 15th century Castilian poet Juan de Dueñas. In 2014 she started teaching literature, history and geography in middle and high school. She is currently a doctoral student in Lingue, letterature e culture straniere at Università degli Studi di Roma Tre.

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Published

2020-04-03

Issue

Vol. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles