Summer of the Saints: Religious Festive Practices in Boston’s North End

This session will explore aspects of religious festivals in the North End. Augusto Ferraiuolo will discuss the complex interplay of ethnicity and religion in the festivals, as well as their similarities and differences with festivals in Italy. Michele Segretario will discuss the place of music at the Fisherman’s Feast to examine how sounds reflect and express identity and place, from Italy to the North End, during the feast.

Nov. 2
11:20 a.m.

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Speakers:

Augusto Ferraiuolo’s work focuses on ritual and performances in a transnational and diasporic perspective. Under this general frame his research topics are diversified: from vernacular healing to religious festive practices in North America, from Southern Italian folk music and dance to traditional Irish music sessions in New England, Ireland and Italy. For his doctoral thesis he made his fieldwork in the Italian-American neighborhood of Boston’s North End. Through the study of local ethnic borders, identity creation and negotiation he analyzes the transformation of a community seeking to safeguard its increasingly valuable, and increasingly elusive, scarce resource of ethnic identity. The results of his research are expressed in the book Religious Festive Practices in Boston’s North End: Ephemeral Identities in an Italian American Community (2009).

Michele Segretario (University of California, Berkeley) is interested in migration, cultural mobility, and urban space. His current research project examines the Italian diaspora in the United States through the study of sounds and musical practices related to religion, politics, and everyday life. Michele founded La Stiva, an organization that promotes social engagement and the emergence of artistic production among young audiences in depressed areas in Sicily.

 

Moderator:

James Pasto is a Master Lecturer at Boston University. He teaches courses on the history of the North End, Italian American studies, and Italian immigration. He was born in the North End and is a co-founder of the North End Historical Society.