Arlindo Itacir Battistel
first published: 1998
Synopsis
Polenta e Liberdade (Polenta and Freedom) tells stories about Italian immigrants who moved to Brazil. The author, after completing his research, aimed to recreate how those people lived in Italy: the environment, their thoughts, feelings, hopes, sorrows and their motivation to migrate to America. This saga is based on real stories.
This amazing book was written by Arlindo Battistel, an independent Brazilian author (meaning you can only buy his books directly from him, I will leave his contact details at the end of the post). Unfortunately it’s only available in Portuguese (but my review is in English, which maybe doesn’t make much sense… haha). It was recommended to me by one of my favourite booktubers, Tati Feltrin, and as I love to read history books, I texted Battistel the same day to get my copy. My husband’s family is from the south of Italy, we had recently searched for his ancestors documentation and learnt some family stories, so reading this book was a great and interesting experience.
The narrative starts in 1875 and ends in 1998, when the book’s first edition was published. I have the 2nd edition, which has amazing 112 photographs illustrating the story – an amazing way to preserve the past and give life to the plot!
The first part of the book narrates the life of Northern Italy inhabitants and the reader follows three main characters: Toni Zampogna, Giovanni Dall’Agnol, and Luís Grigolatto (Bíio), who were based in real people. It’s afflictive to read how poor people lived under such conditions. My heart sank while reading many passages and I saw myself hoping those people could strive. They heard about this new land, Brazil, and all the promises the American Emperor was making, offering free land, tools, seeds and even gold for those lucky enough to find it. Toni is the first of our characters to make his mind and decide to go to this new place, dreaming of a better life. He is later followed by his friend, Giovanni, and his family.
It’s then time to follow their journey on a ship, and this was one of the most dramatic parts of the book. I’ve read about slave trade and how slaves were transported, but never imagined the conditions Italian immigrants faced wouldn’t be so different. I mean, it’s much better than what was imposed to slaves, but it’s still inhuman. For those who survived the journey, the first stop would be Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, where they would encounter robbery and exploitation. There were people waiting on the ports with job promises, employment contracts in a language they didn’t understand, and loads of malice. The immigrants who believed them, would go to coffee plantations to replace the slaves, becoming basically slaves themselves – they would receive their earnings, but they owed so much to the landlord that they had to work their entire lives trying to pay for it. The lucky ones would run away and strive.
Those immigrants who were aware of this trap, probably advised by friends or relatives who migrated before, kept onboard until the next port, in the south of Brazil. This was the place in need of inhabitants, so they received free land, tools and seeds. However, their challenges were not over, and they had to face the jungle and all its dangers, including the ocelots (real stories here too and I dare any reader not to cry!).
This is a huge book (808 pages!) with a really interesting story, I couldn’t put it down. I love how the chapters are short, so I could read bits here and there (I’m a weirdo who hates to stop reading in the middle of a chapter/section haha). Analysing the book in a technical perspective, the writing style needs improvement. Battistel is so keen to write in a polished way that he ends up exaggerating and making some mistakes. Although it annoyed me in some moments (especially the beginning of the book while I was still getting engaged), this book fills the good book criteria: involving, emotional, addictive and a great. I could keep going on for a thousand more pages! I’m not exaggerating when I say this is a must read for all people who are interested in Italian immigration in Brazil and history in general.
Thoughts of One's Own 