'Oltre l'Australia c'è la luna': Maggio garfagnino and the Emigrant Experience

摘要

This chapter addresses the question of why the Tuscan sung popular theatre form Maggio has continued so strongly against the odds in its home region of the Garfagnana (Lucca, Tuscany), while attempts to mount performances in Australia have (to my knowledge) so far failed, despite the considerable numbers of Garfagnini who emigrated there. I will argue that the strength of the nexus between paese (home town) and performance practice in the Garfagnino Maggio stems from the Garfagnana’s long history of emigration, and that indeed various features of the Maggio genre appear to result from, or at least be intensified by, a “diaspora effect”, that is, the effect of expatriates on their community of origin. I argue that to understand the themes, form, per- formance practice and survival of this most localised of traditions we need to take into account the transnationalism of many Garfagnini and the role of campanilismo (loyalty to one’s home village) in sustaining emigrants abroad.