Abstract

Over the last few decades, Italian interest in the culture of ethnic groups who identify their origin as Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino in the United States – the largest ethnic minority as a whole in the country – has been devoted mostly to the literary, artistic and intellectual production of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, even though recently scholars and publishing houses have begun to explore and translate works of some Latino writers who migrated from other countries of the Caribbean area (Cuba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic). This chapter aims at presenting a survey of the circulation and critical reception of Chicana/o culture in Italy. Among the heterogeneous Hispanic cultures of the United States, Chicana/o is by far the most studied. Also, thanks to the translations of seminal works of prominent writers such as Rudolfo Anaya, Gloria Anzaldúa and Sandra Cisneros, Chicana/o culture is relatively familiar to Italian readers. Interest in contemporary Mexican American culture and its literary production – at least in an academic milieu – developed quite early and since the 1970s has increased steadily. In the following pages, I shall address the various literary forms and genres practiced by Chicana/o authors – poetry, theatre and prose fiction – as well as the wide-ranging field of Chicana/o Studies, which encompasses literary and cultural criticism, sociology, politics, music and linguistics.