Cultural goods, market and Italianity: Memories of migration in Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Italian immigration has been an important phenomenon in the history of Rio Grande do Sul, whether from an ethnic-cultural, political, economic or social point of view. Labor force of immigrants has contributed to the diversification of the gaucho economy as early as in the first decades of the 20^th century. On the other hand, this economic development has contributed to the birth of a local ethnic elite that, in the 1920s, took for itself the right/duty to produce the memory of a victorious immigration. Therefore, as early as in the 1920s and 1930s, memory, narratives about the Italian immigration and Italianity intersected with the economy and politics, indicating an ethnicity that contributed to the economic and social progress of the State. Over time, the growth of the “Italy” brand in the domestic and foreign markets has overlapped with an emphasis on ethnic Italian positivity. The aim of this article is to seek to understand how much of contemporary Italianity codes date back to that primordial moment of the 1920s and how the market has shaped this new consumer product, the intangible heritage associated with the Italo-gauchos.