Italian-American Folklore: Proverbs, Songs, Games, Folktales, Foodways, Superstitions, Folk

Being Italian-American, I really enjoyed this book! I also learned so much that I did not know about my culture. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Conversation, which include some insightful proverbs. Italians have always been a very proud and self-reliant people, as summarized in the wise and timeless Sicilian-American proverb - "Cu s'aiuta Diu l'aiuta" (God helps those who help themselves). I also enjoyed the list of words that were adapted from English (p.45) with the Italian dialect and morphological tones. Really nice book!

Very ineresting and insightful look at Italianj American's and their colorful superstitions, charming as they often are. Reminded me of another favorite I-A book I recently read, Eleven Days in August, by Amatore Mille.

Italian Americans pierced a girl baby's ears and place gold earrings in them, because gold protects the eyes from infection. This is one of the interesting facts in ITALIAN-AMERICAN FOLKLORE, which is a stand-alone volume in the American Folklore series. There are ten chapters: Setting the Scene, Conversation, Customs: The Life Cycle, Customs: The Traditional Calendar, Folk Supernaturalism, Folk Medicine, Recreation and Games, Stories and Storytelling, Drama, Music and Dance, and Foodways.I was particularly interested in the folk supernaturalism and folk medicine, but all the chapters give interesting tidbits into the Italian immigrant experience. Did you know it is unlucky to be born on Christmas Eve according to Italian-American folklore? A girl born on Christmas Eve will become a strega (a witch) and a boy will become a werewolf. If you are born on the 13th of any month, you are under the protection of Santa Lucia.It was also interesting to learn that the first Italian immigrants were very regionally oriented and pan-Italian ideology came later. The American Roman Catholic Church's relationship to the Italian immigrants was very interesting as it wasn't initially as amicable as one would have thought, which explains the new immigrants reliance on folk supernaturalism and folk medicine. Never would have known this if I hadn't read this book. The food, which has entered into mainstream America, is, of course, also very appealing.The book consists of 298 pages, with around 50 pages of Notes and Bibliography. I really enjoyed the book, but I feel like this is just an introduction to the Italian-American experience. I want more!Although those of Italian descent will find it useful to find their roots, those interested in the folklore of ethnic America will also enjoy this book. It may also be of interested to Modren Wiccan practitioners of the stregheria tradition.

As an Italian-American myself, I was searching to fill the gaps on some of the details regarding some of the traditions and superstitions that my grandparents believed in. Since both of them have passed away, we have been filling in a family tree and are supplementing our research with some of the rituals and customs we have come to enjoy and would like to pass them along to our children. This book was right on the money! Very enjoyable and easy to follow! My father and aunt and uncle enjoyed the portions I read aloud to them-- it brought back a lot of memories and is allowing us to build a more robust family history story! Excellent reading!