Celebrating Calabria: Writing Heritage and Memory

Abstract

This impressive volume resulted from a program, launched primarily by the Italian Diaspora Studies Association in collaboration with the Department of Humanities of the University of Calabria, that focused on investigating the Italian diaspora from a transnational perspective. In May 2019, professional and amateur writers from diverse backgrounds (not just Italian Americans) gathered in Morano Calabro and then later in Albidona, Cosenza to participate in a writing seminar focused on a topic that engaged all participants: “Heritage and Memory.” The poems, reflections, and short stories they wrote under the guidance of Maria Mazziotti Gillan constitute the main body of this volume, enriched by the marvelous photographs by Mark Hillringhouse. Yet Celebrating Calabria is much more than a collection, and the volume does not simply aim at glorifying the beauties of Calabria and its cultural heritage: unquestionably, its scope is much wider and more profound. This wonderfully invigorating anthology is a polyphonic book structured around two interlaced concepts: the broadening of (often stereotypical) ideas and conceptions regarding identity and self-definition, and the construction of an imaginary community beyond borders. In the process of working out these concepts, the book is a celebration of life.The reasons that prompted each of the participants to join the workshop were multiple: some longed to rediscover their roots; others were curious; still others came to experience Italy and its beauties; and a few were attracted by the very presence of Maria Mazziotti Gillan, an extraordinarily gifted human being who acts as a source of inspiration to those who approach her and her empowering poems. To all participants, Calabria became a mirror (a recurrent theme), which enabled them finally to perceive and accept their own image as a whole and as beyond partialities, ingrained stereotypes regarding ethnic background, and self-imposed emotional restrictions. The landscape featured in Celebrating Calabria may be equated to a cradle, to an ancestral womb from which to be reborn. Reading the verses and narratives included in the collection means undertaking a journey of self-discovery. But it also means facing one's inner monsters—striving to piece together the various facets of a fragmented identity, while excavating the past, and allowing traumas to surface and be worked through.Celebrating Calabria contributes strongly toward fostering a renewed sense of community: different voices stemming from diverse contexts echo one another; unexpected consonances emerge; personal stories intersect and illumine one another. In their dual capacity as inspirers and healers, Margherita Ganeri and Maria Mazziotti Gillan have succeeded in encouraging the workshop participants to spin individual threads that, woven together, form beautiful patterns. Lastly, a few words should be spared to commend Hillringhouse's insightful photographs; instead of offering the usual picturesque, prepackaged version of Italy to which we have grown accustomed, he lingers on dark corners, on beautiful secluded spaces off the beaten track, on the relationships among men, women, and their pets and animals. There is music and poetry in every photo.At a time when social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic (and its memory) still undermines our deepest sense of a shared humanity, Celebrating Calabria functions as a powerful balm on open wounds, thus reminding us that we—human beings, animals, nature—are all interconnected.