Building a New Self: Ethnicity and Relational Patterns in Pietro di Donato's 'This Woman'

"Ethnicity" is the central heritage core in Pietro DiDonato second novel, "This Woman", published in 1958, eighteen years after the epic saga of exploitation and social violence of "Christ in Concrete" (1939). Within the context of Italian American literature, the two works mark the transition from a marxist view on the problems of immigration and integration in the social myth of "melting pot", to a multifaceted approach in the characterization of Paul and Isa, the protagonists of the ethnic "dramatic" clash of issues DiDonato pursues. The article builds on the hypothesis that the critical reception of "This Woman" has been too harsh, especially on the ground of a static comparison of the novel's effects with the linguistic "magma" of "Christ". "This Woman" has artistic qualities of its own; it boldly enters the path leading to the inner workings of the mind of its two main characters, interweaving a basic texture in which the narrative voice shifts from reported (i.e. "social") speach to the absorbing use of free indirect (i.e. "personal", "individual") style. Its mature craftsmanship creates an evocative narrative flow with conspicuous visual qualities as well.