Calvary or limbo? Articulating identity and citizenship in two Italian Australian autobiographical narratives of World War II internment. Issue 1 (31st May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Carniel, Jessica
• Is Part Of: Queensland review. Volume 23:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 20
• Page End: 34
• Publication Date: 2016-05-31
• Subjects: Queensland -- Periodicals; 994.3005
• DOI: 10.1017/qre.2016.4
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1321-8166

Abstract

Abstract: Almost 5, 000 Italians were interned in Australia during World War II, a high proportion of them Queensland residents. Internment was a pivotal experience for the Italian community, both locally and nationally, complicating Italian Australians' sense of belonging to their adopted country. Through an examination of two migrant autobiographical narratives of internment, Osvaldo Bonutto's A Migrant's Story and Peter Dalseno's Sugar, Tears and Eyeties, this article explores the impact of internment on the experience and articulation of cultural and civic belonging to Australian society. It finds that internment was a 'trial' or 'transitional' phase for these internees' personal and civic identities, and that the articulation of these identities and sense of belonging is historically contingent, influenced by the shift from assimilation to multiculturalism in settlement ideology, as well as Italian Australians' changing place in Australian society throughout the twentieth century.