Identity

While Pierina and Rino are shown throughout this project as children in their families, husband and wife, parents and grandparents—they possessed their own individual identities that are significant to explore. Ethnic identity, for instance, plays a vital role in a person’s overall sense of self and can change overtime according to social circumstance¹. Intersections of the young immigrants’ early exposure to Canadian life and the reactions of the receiving Canadian society would have influenced both their identities and well being.² Gender also played a role in their identity formation. Resembling the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation, book (Bible?) in hand; Pierina embodies the modest ideal of a young Italian woman³ in one particular image⁴. The seriousness fades in the next photo⁵, however, as she sports fashionable sunglasses and a smile. Perhaps gender influenced Rino’s confident stance in another photo⁶, a stark contrast to his wife’s demeanor from the photo taken in her backyard⁴. Nevertheless, Pierina challenged stereotypical identities by continuing to work and raise children throughout her life. “Identity” focuses on snapshots of Rino and Pierina on their own.

1. Stassen Berger, Kathleen. Invitation to the Life Span. Worth Publishers, 2009, pp. 352 

2. Phinney, Jean, et al. “Ethnic Identity, Immigration, and Well-Being: An Interactional Perspective.” Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 57, no.3, 2001, pp. 494. 

3. Iacovetta, Franca. Such Hardworking People: Italian Immigrants in Postwar Toronto. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1992, pp. 80.