Il "libro dei mutamenti"
Keywords:Italian American literature, Italian-Americans, migration, Ellis Island, Italian diaspora, sonnets, borders
Italian-American writer of the third-generation Robert Viscusi tells about the migratory tragedy of Italians in North America in his Ellis Island, a strongly innovative collection which combines history and autobiography. The poem consists of 624 sonnets unfolding through personal memories, historical researches and bold metaphors. The well-known opposition between earth and sea becomes here a match and a very realistic argument on the idea of transformation and mutability typical of a part of humanity that changes through migration. Ellis Island is the final place of changes, just as the poem itself, which can be read in the printed and static version, but also in the ever-changing, randomly generated one, available on the dedicated website by the author’s decision. A form in line with the content and its true meaning.