"a più chiare lettere: appunti sulla corrispondenza dell'emigrazione", cristoforo magistro

NOTA DE RODAPÉ
In this article Cristoforo Magistro talks about an important aspect of migration, the correspondence between ‘those who left and those who remained’. Needless to say, these letters represent a unique and precious heritage which allows us to listen to the protagonists themselves telling about this phenomenon. However, what is worth noticing is the fact that these documents seriously risk being destroyed; the same goes for the part which is still being preserved. Thus, their safeguarding is in the hands of our regional research institutes which should put all their efforts to protect them. It was only since the 1950s that the State really faced with the matter of working-class education in a region where in a recent past 75% of its inhabitants were still illiterate. In order to improve this condition the migrants themselves tried to solve the problem, especially for their children. Leaving for other destinations meant being separated from the families, which made learning to write necessary. Therefore, the migrants and their relatives started to write, mainly women, who once again proved to be the ‘strongest ring’ in the family. The distance and the problems of those who left and those who remained caused difficulties in family relationships. The letters show evidence of how painful being separated was and how difficult searching for a new life and equilibrium was for those who had to leave. The whole correspondence concerning migration give us a picture of different frames of mind, situations, dreams and plans carried out either in the landing places or in the native lands. Thus, retrieving, preserving and spreading the ‘writings’ of whom could barely write would be the only concrete way to stop the rulers telling about ‘the dominated’. 

Obs: o artigo está escrito em língua italiana.

Mondo Basilicata, n. 8, p. 24-27, 2005
​

a più chiare lettere...