William Boelhower

Immigrant Autobiography in the United States: Five Versions of the Italian American Experience William Boelhower

Literary Nonfiction. Italian & Italian American Studies. First published in Italy in 1982 and available to only a handful of scholars in the US, Boelhower's classic study IMMIGRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY in the United States led the way in identifying a new text-type that helped to reconfigure the rich but culturally narrow tradition of life-writing in the United States. A pioneer text in advocating the recognition and inclusion of multiethnic literatures in the WASP heavy literary canon, IMMIGRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY helped to enlarge the pantheon of representative American lives. This revised and enlarged edition also includes a new introduction tracing an Italian-American women's autobiographical tradition that compares favorably to that of other ethnic groups.