The Italian Other in 19th/20th Century Dime Novels

Allison Groves,* Lillian Wright* and Nancy Caronia, Department of English, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6296

Field (Broad Category): English & Literature (Human Engagement)

Student’s Major: English and Spanish 

Dismissed as mental trash due to their repetitive plots and short form narratives, dime novels were the working class’s cheap entertainment before radio or television were invented. Dime novel serial fiction stereotyped many groups, including indigenous, black, and immigrant populations. This negative stereotyping helped to promote a xenophobic attitude towards those deemed Other and reinforced whiteness as the norm. This research focuses specifically on the presence of Italian and Italian American characters and the identity ascribed to them. Other dime novel researchers assert Italians play no significant role in dime novel serials, but this research has shown Italian Americans have an established prevalence, representing approximately 8% of 50 issues read between 1872 to 1888 in the Beadles New Dime Novels series. Slurs, including pejorative words such as dago and brigand, directed towards Italian are peppered throughout these novels. In addition, out of the 8% of issues, all of the Italians were the antagonists and were outlaws or fugitives. The legacy of this negative stereotyping evolved to normalize Italians as violent and criminal. Portrayals of Italians as outlaws in the dime novel serial creates a place where Italian immigrants are viewed only as the Other and give a foundation to the gangster archetype displayed in twentieth and twenty-first century popular culture. This poster presentation will outline the findings myself and Lily Wright have documented over the course of the past year. 

Funding: WVU Research Apprenticeship Program 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course