Past and Current Trends in Italian Scottish Migration Writings: Time and Memory in Joe Pieri and Anne Pia

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to shed light on Joe Pieri (1918–2012) and Anne Pia (1950–) as key figures of Italian Scottish migration literature. Although they have been neglected by academic criticism, their commitment to representing their transnational identities, as well as the ‘process of becoming’ of their community members, now deserves full recognition. Time and memory are central themes in their writings. Isle of the Displaced: An Italian-Scot’s Memoirs of Internment in the Second World War (1997) and Language of My Choosing: A Candid Life-Memoir of an Italian Scot (2017), Pieri’s and Pia’s respective first memoirs, both revisit the horrors of the Second World War while maintaining strong ties to the present. Pieri includes a detailed description of Île Sainte-Hélène today, while Pia reflects on immigration as a ‘pilgrimage’ and expresses gratitude to Scotland as an inclusive, multiethnic country. Their works affirm that the hardships of their early lives were pivotal in shaping their complex identities. Belonging to different historical periods and endowed with unique sensitivities, Pieri and Pia also represent the earliest stages and latest trends of Italian Scottish migration literature. After analysing these memoirs – especially their relationship between past and present – the article concludes with Pia’s Magnacioni … My Food, My Italy (2023). A ‘Te Deum’ of Italian culture, this hybrid work confirms that time, self-reflection, and writing are distinctive features of this under-researched branch of the Italian diaspora in Anglophone countries.