Families, lovers, and their letters : Italian postwar migration to Canada / Sonia Cancian.

Includes bibliographies and index.

"Excuse the errors, I'm writing at night by oil lamp ..." : postwar Italian migrants and their letters -- "Even though distance has now kept us apart ..." : kinship across networks -- "My dear, you will have nothing else to do but ..." : gender relations and dynamics -- "My dearest love ..." : emotions at a distance.

"From dust-covered basement boxes and trunks of ordinary people, here comes a path-breaking study of one of the most important migration movements of the postwar era. This is historical interdisciplinary analysis at its best, and certainly bound to make us discover or re-think the complex emotional universe that lies underneath a migration movement. A must reading for anyone interested in migration."--Bruno Ramirez, University of Montreal, author of Crossing the 49th Parallel, Migration from Canada to the United States, 1900-1930.

"A wise and insightful book. Cancian introduces us to voices that have never been heard before and she allows readers immersed in today's virtual communications to understand how writing on paper, too, could contribute to the achievement of dreams and the resolution of anxieties and longings."--Donna R. Gabaccia, Director, Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, author of Italy's Many Diasporas.

Families, Lovers, and their Letters takes us into the passionate hearts and minds of ordinary people caught in the heartbreak of transatlantic migration. It examines the experiences of Italian migrants to Canada and their loved ones left behind in Italy following the Second World War, when the largest migration of Italians to Canada took place.

In a micro-analysis of 400 private letters, including three collections that incorporate letters from both sides of the Atlantic, Sonia Cancian provides new evidence on the bidirectional flow of communication during migration. She analyzes how kinship networks functioned as a means of support and control through the flow of news, objects, and persons; how gender roles in productive and reproductive spheres were reinforced as a means of coping with separation; and how the emotional impact of both temporary and permanent separation was expressed during the migration process. Cancian also examines the love letter as a specific form of epistolary exchange, a first in Italian immigrant historiography, revealing the powerful effect that romantic love had on the migration experience. --Book Jacket.

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