239
Identity and Belonging
The Wittenoom Italians — adults and children — have had to address issues of belonging
and identity. These emerged during our discussions about their reasons for leaving Italy and
the decision to settle in Australia or to repatriate. Their experiences are typical of those
encountered by other Italian migrants.
55
In post-war Australian society, rejection
of Italian
culture impacted on the relationship between Italian parents and their children. Furthermore
once
sistemati in Australia, accounts of visits home reveal the ambivalent feelings among
participants as they considered whether they were Italian and/or Australian. Repatriated
Italians report having experienced hurt feelings as those who had
never emigrated dismissed
the significance of their migration decision to Italy’s economic recovery in the 1960s. The
importance of family and connection to homeland or acceptance in the place they now call
home — Australia — have played a role in reconciling their sense of identity and feelings of
belonging. Some, nevertheless, remain ambivalent regarding their identity and where they
actually belong.
Italian migrants had to deal with the mistrust and lack of acceptance, albeit not by all
Australians. They were
considered uneducated, dirty and coarse. Meanwhile Italians
harboured their own disdain for the Australian way of life. During the post-war years and until
the acknowledgement of Australia’s multicultural society in the 1970s, Italians’ questioning or
denial of their cultural identity, notably among the children, commonly occurred in response
to these attitudes.
56
The few examples of intermarriage with other nationalities among the
first generation Italians in Australia, perhaps gives some indication where
the adults stood on
the issue of their identity.
57
On the other hand, Italian children desired acceptance by their
Australian peers and rejected their cultural heritage. This rejection was epitomised in their
refusal to maintain or speak with their parents in their mother tongue or to eat “wog” food,
notably the
salami and
mortadella panini [bread rolls] mothers prepared for them. This
rejection also surfaced as children questioned parental aspirations which focused on the
pursuit of a higher education rather than, for example, work in the retail industry or the
55
See, for example, Baldassar (2001), Op Cit. Castles et al, Op Cit.
56
Castles et al., Op Cit. p.53.
57
Castles, Op Cit. p. 351. In 1961 the Italian-born rate of intermarriage was 3%.
240
acquisition of a trade. These choices were influenced by an adolescent’s desire
to earn
money, their rejection by teachers and peers, a lack of interest in tertiary education, or
possibly a poor command of English.
Friendships forged by children and adults — between Italians and Australians —
eventually helped to reframe the racist feelings directed against Italians and their disdain for
Australian traditions. Italian children came to express pride in their cultural heritage and the
desire to share it with their Australian peers. Several accounts suggest
that friendships
between the children, in particular, fostered a more positive attitude among parents:
Australians accepted Italian values and traditions and Italians adopted Australian practices
more readily. These positive attitudes were reinforced by Australian government policy
seeking to value migrants’ contributions to Australian society by maintaining migrants’
cultural integrity.
58
Rosa Tamburri’s family exemplifies the conflicts which
occurred in Italian
families, including my own.
Of course, the Italian cooking and now they [the children]
are saying, “Thank God we are Italian! I’m so proud of
being Italian!” Because some of them [Rosa’s children]
they have been to Italy. Only one, Antoinette, hasn’t been
there. She knows a few words from grandma. But coming
home from school, “Ohhhh, no way!” And they didn’t want
to have rolls. They had to have sliced bread.
The reciprocal acceptance and adoption of cultural practices gradually became more
common among Italians and Australians. Rosa Tamburri continued:
One night my daughter came from school. She said,
“Mum, I got my friend coming for dinner”. “Well,” I said,
“we’re having spaghetti”. “Oh,” she said, “that’s what she
wants, mum. She wants to try Italian style spaghetti”.
“Ok, that’s fine”, I said… We sitting at dinner and she
said, “Mrs Tamburri, this spaghetti are beautiful. Where
do you buy them from”? I said, “… Buy the pasta”? “No,
no”, she said, “the can”! I said, “No, darling, I make the
sauce… cook the spaghetti… put on the plate, put the
sauce, put the cheese”. She said, “I wonder why mum’s
spaghetti… she opens up a tin”. I said, “Australians don’t
know how to cook spaghetti. That’s the Italian way of
cooking spaghetti”. Now, those spaghetti or baked beans
we have them on toast in the morning! (laughs) But I said
“Not for dinner, we cook the proper spaghetti”!
59
58
Castles et al, Op Cit. p. 230.
59
Interview with Rosa Tamburri, Perth, October 2009.
241
Rosa applauded the change in attitudes, but nevertheless, noted that the more recently
arrived migrants are encountering similar experiences to those of migrants who arrived in the
post-war period.
The
Italian-born children, old enough to remember Italy, feel a sense of loss —
something with which their parents have also had to grapple. Giulio Santini, now a
grandfather, lives in Perth with his wife. Their daughter and her family are nearby. He still
feels Italian and has made several trips to Italy because of his strong emotional ties. Yet, as
a result of his experiences during
his visits, he no longer identifies with Italians in Italy. He
sees them as
“…sgarbate. Non hanno visto di meglio e tu devi dire sì ad uno che non sa
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