"América no me gusta, todo lo que dicen de la América no es verdad": Las cartas de Lucia Grandi de Racca

Abstract: This article examines the letters written by Lucia Grandi de Racca, an Italian immigrant in Argentina, and her family's experience of migration and settlement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Lucia's letters furnish a unique perspective on the daily lives of women in the Argentinean pampa and their role in maintaining family ties and cultural traditions. Communication and family bonds played a crucial role in Lucia's life, as seen through her reliance on letters to maintain emotional well-being and express her yearning for family unity despite the geographical distance. Through a close analysis of the letters, the study explores how the Racca family negotiated their new environment, maintained connections with their homeland, and constructed a sense of identity in migration. The epistolary correspondence also reveals the challenges and opportunities of migration and the complex emotions of the immigration process. This study contributes to the broader historiography of Italian emigration to America and highlights the importance of anonymous voices in shaping the understanding of the past and the need to challenge the globalization of immigration in statistics and numbers.