Sull'oceano, entre travessias e palavras : a migração italiana e a escrita pedagógica de Edmondo de Amicis

Abstract

The work Sull'oceano, written at the end of the 19th century by Edmondo De Amicis, was the result of the travel experience undertaken by the Italian author in the spring of 1884. When boarding the ship Nord America, in the port of Genoa, the traveler-writer had as destination for the city of Buenos Aires, where he was recommended to write about the Argentine people and their culture. However, contrary to his own editor, Emílio Treves, De Amicis decided to build his narrative based on observations of events inside the ship. It was, therefore, based on an exceptional phenomenon – the crossing of Italian emigrants towards the New World – that De Amicis created his travel novel. Exploring the comical dimension of human behavior, the traveler-writer addressed political and social problems that plagued post-Risorgimento Italian society, as can be seen in the emblematic way in which the text deals with conflicts between the first and third classes of the ship. Adopting a realistic tone to describe the physiognomies, clothing and the degrading situation found on the ship's premises, De Amicis also used fictional resources to invent and imagine characters, dialogues and situations. Starting from the analysis of these and other aspects of deamicisian writing, this research investigates how the author appropriated the experience of the crossing to construct an uplifting narrative. For this type of analysis, it was necessary to consider the role of writing in the modern world, especially its potential as a practice capable of constructing discourses and regimenting affections, identities and symbols. Based on studies and concepts from important theorists, such as Michel de Certeau, Jacques Rancière and James Clifford, it was identified, in the forms of construction of the other – in this case the italian people themselves – the use of sentimental and pedagogical elements characteristic of a writing permeated by an instrumental content, which established an ideal model of Italian civilization.