“Manage, Negotiate, and Challenge Identities”: Young Italian-Canadian Identities from the Eyetalian Perspective

Abstract

This study is an investigation of identity and Italian-Canadian youth in the post-World War Two period. A thorough examination of the limited secondary literature on this topic, as well an analysis of the works of authors, journalists and others published in the Toronto-based magazine Eyetalian, presents the intricacies of hybrid identity for young Italian Canadians. The various essays and other materials published in Eyetalian suggest the complex nature of identity which arises from generational differences, a search for identity (and what it means to be Italian Canadian), and the reproduction of traditional cultural values. The analysis proposes that identity for youth of Italian-Canadian descent is extremely elaborate, heterogeneous and fluid.