In the balance of the volume’s stories, all of which focus on the repressive nature of middle-class female existence, Messina aims at a similar fusion of style and content, molding the principles of verismo to depict a Sicilian reality unknown to her reading public. Gone are the lively banter and colorful outer aspects of village life. The protagonists in these stories are psychologically and physically isolated Sicilian women, governed by rigid codes of behavior and conditioned to silence. Stylistically, Messina renders this fear of speaking out and inability to communicate in unfinished sentences that trail off into a series of ellipses and in the use of frequent internal monologues. Although such writing may appear disjointed to readers accustomed to smooth transitions, its explicit purpose was to adhere to the world of the characters.

A second problem for the translator involves the occasional duality of languages used in the texts. Because Messina aimed at portraying Sicilian life in the most authentic terms possible, she occasionally used Sicilian expressions to color her writing, at times translating the words, songs, or rhymes into standard Italian in the form of footnotes. With the exception of words that have a particular significance in a given story, I have translated Messina’s Sicilian into English, thus eliminating the problem of a “double translation” for the reader. Words left untouched in the Sicilian or Italian are collected in the glossary at the close of this volume. Given the hierarchical structure of Sicilian society, I have also left unchanged the forms of address that indicated one’s social rank in the community and that Sicilians used in their dealings with one another. These titles are also defined in the glossary.

Finally, Messina’s efforts to transcribe the world as seen through the eyes of her characters extend to her use of metaphors and similes. A kind-hearted, morally solid individual is “as good as bread” (not gold) reflecting peasants’ association with their most precious staple. Likewise, an able-bodied, handsome son who inspires pride in his parents is “as beautiful as a banner in the breeze.” Although such expressions may strike the modern reader as odd, the images were born out of a particular cultural context, and I have left them unaltered in my translation.

Notes

1. Skilled artisans—tailors, shoemakers, barbers, stonemasons, weavers, and carpenters—were among the first to leave Sicily. Although artisans by definition were a class unto themselves, a great range existed within their ranks. As a group, they were among the first to take advantage of education reforms in Sicilian society as well as the first to form mutual aid societies (Briggs 1978). Of those who remained in Sicily, the most successful aspired to the ranks of the civili while others never advanced beyond the petite bourgeoisie. For a thorough discussion of artisans and emigration see Gabaccia (1998).

2. Briggs notes that the range of middle positions in the social structure of southern Italian village society varied significantly.