Dilemmatic Identities in the Italian and Romanian Diasporic Novel

The author studies emigration and the effects it has upon the identity of the individual using a literary corpus belonging to the Romanian (Flavia Cosma, Eugen Giurgiu, Kenneth Radu, Barbara Sapergia) and Italian (Pietro Corsi, Rita Amabili-Rivet, Frank Paci, Antonio D'Alfonso) diasporas in Canada. The characters oscillate between two cultures and most of the times the best solution to adapt is hybrid identity. History, politics, sociology as well as psychology are used in the analysis of the two ethnic communities trying to prove that Canada encourages the evolution of the newcomers and makes possible the belief in a North American dream. The reasons of displacement are established according to the historical immigration waves the characters belong to and the literary heroes face traumas as a consequence of their uprooting, sometimes memories hindering integration. Both communities fight against stereotypes which are overcome by the example of ethnic personalities who asserted themselves. Dilemmas appear in the case of all Canadians when they have to define their national identity, but multiculturalism is the main national value which creates cohesion in the Canadian society.