One of the most narrated parts of Italian life in Christ in Concrete was the fiesta. The immigrants were thrilled to be able to eat as much as they wished, to relax, chat, sing and dance with family and friends. This section of the book functioned almost as a comic relief. As the immigrants were able to take a break from their difficult labor, the reader was able to smile with them instead of sympathizing. Robert Orsi must have also appreciated this Italian Fiesta as he attended the annual festa of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for many consecutive years. The festa drew more than just ethnographers as “Irish policemen…Jewish and German immigrants still living what had been their old neighborhood, and prosperous tourists from the West Side” used to come join in the crowds for his holiday. The hard workers needed something to look forward to and to participate in besides for their everyday work. The festa seemed to be a high point, a much-deserved break, for the Italians and all that shared it with them.
(This article made me realize how Pietro DiDonato truly focused on the Italian immigrant lifestyle and did not include that much about the life of other immigrants. I wonder why there were no significant Puerto Rican or Haitian characters working with Paul.)
Interestingly, but perhaps expected, Orsi is an Italian American and therefore must have had a unique interest in the subject. As he admitted, people must have been much more willing to speak with him, to discuss their pasts, and invite him to their celebrations. They probably did not see him as some outsider who was coming to look down at them, but rather they would appreciate his work and thoughtful accounts of their story. Orsi is thoughtful and careful in how he synthesizes the broad historical context and more anthropological aspects that include the importance of the imaginative role of the Madonna. In terms of his essay, I liked how he wrote about his fieldwork and how his history may have taken a part in his findings. As I write about the fieldwork we do on the Jewish Lower East Side I will think about how my own history allows me to understand and relate to the new stories I learn about.
