A New Language, A New World: Italian Immigrants in the United States, 1890-1945 (Statue of Liberty Ellis Island)

An examination of Italian immigrants and their children in the early twentieth century, A New Language, A New World is the first full-length historical case study of one immigrant group's experience with language in America. Incorporating the interdisciplinary literature on language within a historical framework, Nancy C. Carnevale illustrates the complexity of the topic of language in American immigrant life. By looking at language from the perspectives of both immigrants and the dominant culture as well as their interaction, this book reveals the role of language in the formation of ethnic identity and the often coercive context within which immigrants must negotiate this process. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Italian Languages in Italy and America 2. Linguistic Boundaries in American History 3. “He could not explain things the way I tell it”: The Immigrant in Translation 4. The World Turned Upside Down in Farfariello’s Theater of Language 5. The Identity Politics of Language: Italian Language Maintenance in New York City, 1920–40 6. Language, Italian American Identity, and the Limits of Cultural Pluralism in the World War II Years Epilogue Notes Index