"Italiana all’ estero: I Diari Raccontano" (Italians abroad: The Diaries Tell Their Stories)

Reviewer: Cristina Migliaccio

Review Date: March 5, 2025

Site Link: https://www.idiariraccontano.org/

Archive Link: https://archive.ph/NNuuw

Keywords: Migration, Oral History, Italian Diaspora, Autobiography, Memory Studies, Digital Humanities, Archival Research, Community Narratives, Public History, Transnationalism

Data Sources:

• Diaries
  
• Letters
  
• Memoirs
  
• Oral Histories
  
• Personal Testimonies
  
• Historical Documents
  
• Family Correspondence

Processes:

• The data on the website has been made searchable by tabs that include autori (story contributors), temi (themes), luoghi (places immigrants left Italy for), and periodi (time frames of immigration)
  
• Each emigrant's story (under autori) has been collated by the regions of Italy they left from
  
• The contributors’ narratives are organized into sub-sections for easier navigation
  
• Over 200 life stories were selected by the site creators from over a thousand available accounts
  
• According to the site creators, an average of five pages were extracted from each contributor’s testimony, chosen from dozens or even hundreds of pages
  
• Each document submitted by the contributors was transcribed, given a title, and linked under their “story section” on the site
  
• Contributors’ testimonies were placed in a historical context and geolocated
  
• Stories were indexed with keywords relevant to the experience of Italians abroad from the 19th century to today
  
• Each page was transformed into a standalone narrative, culminating in 1,000 published stories at the time of the site's launch

Presentation:

The project is structured as a website archive, organizing stories through five navigation tabs labeled Authors, Themes, Places, and Time Periods. The landing page (I Diari Raccontano) introduces the archive’s contents through text and a YouTube video that provides an overview of the project. Additionally, the site allows users to contribute their own family’s migration stories. By clicking on La Tua Storia (Your Story), visitors can submit images of journals, diaries, letters, and photographs from their personal family archives, further enriching the project’s collection.

Digital Tools Used:

• Wordpress is the Content Management System (CMS) used for the website.
  
• Geolocation Tools: Services such as Google Maps API enable the mapping of locations mentioned in the narratives to provide geographical context.​
  
• Keyword Indexing: Tools like the Index Tool assist in tagging content with relevant keywords, enhancing searchability and organization.​
  
• Digital Scanning and Transcription Software tools used are not disclosed.

Languages:

• Italian
  
• Though the site does not provide a translation feature, users can use Google Chrome’s built-in translation feature to view I Diari Raccontano in English or any other language available in Google Translate’s database. If the option to translate does not appear automatically, the user can right-click anywhere on the page and select "Translate to English (or another available language)". While these translations may not be perfect in some cases, they provide a close enough interpretation of each author's journey.

Review

I Diari Raccontano (Italians Abroad: The Diaries Tell Their Stories) is a digital humanities project that collects and preserves the personal narratives of Italian emigrants, giving readers a direct look into the experiences of migration from the 19th century to today. The stories featured on I Diari Raccontano come from a unique library in Italy called the National Diary Archive in Pieve Santo Stefano. This archive is like a giant collection of real people’s journals, letters, and memoirs—regular folks sharing their life experiences, from everyday moments to major historical events. These stories are then published with the help of the Directorate General for Italians Abroad and Migration Policies, a branch of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Basically, this office looks out for Italians living outside the country, helping them stay connected to their roots with things like consular services, cultural programs, and legal support.

I Diari Raccontano brings together personal stories from Italians around the world, making sure their voices and experiences aren’t lost to history. The project digitizes analog content, making these firsthand migration stories widely accessible.

The selection criteria that the curators explain they used for the stories published on I Diari Raccontano focus on:​

• Historical Significance: Choosing narratives that provide unique perspectives on major historical events.​
  
• Common Migration Experiences: Highlighting shared aspects of the migration journey, such as departure, adaptation, and integration.​
  
• Diverse Viewpoints: Presenting a variety of personal experiences to enrich the overall narrative.

The archive is divided into sections that let users explore migration stories by theme, location, and time period. Each story is carefully curated, making the site both a research tool and a digital storytelling space. Each author's journey on I Diari Raccontano is intricately linked to an interactive Google Map that traces their travels from Italy to destinations around the world. Whether a singular voyage or multiple expeditions, these maps provide a visual representation of the places that shaped their experiences. By exploring these mapped routes, readers can follow in the footsteps of writers, artists, and travelers, immersing themselves in personal narratives that capture the cultural landscapes, historical moments, and lived realities of each journey.

The website I Diari Raccontano is designed for a diverse audience interested in the personal narratives of Italians abroad. It offers valuable insights for. The curators mention that they envision their audience to be researchers and historians, especially those studying migration patterns, cultural exchanges, or personal accounts of historical events can find firsthand sources that enrich their understanding, educators and students, people in the Italian Diaspora and their descendants, and the general public.​

One of the most compelling aspects of I Diari Raccontano is its focus on personal stories within the bigger migration experience. For this review, I chose to focus on Teresa Luongo’s story because:

1. She is from Campania, like my parents.
   
2. She was a pattern maker, just like my mother.
   
3. She grew up in post-WWII Italy, a time when American culture and the dream of moving to the U.S. were incredibly exciting, especially for young adults like her and my parents.

Her story reflects the larger (traditional) migration experience of that time period, particularly the common pattern of wives leaving later to join their husbands who emigrated first for economic opportunity. However, it also stands out as a woman’s perspective, which is not as common in I Diari Raccontano, where most migration stories are told by men.

The archive’s ability to grow through community participation is one of its strongest features. Users can contribute their own family migration stories through the La Tua Storia (Your Story) section. This function expands the project’s reach, ensuring it remains a living, evolving record of Italian migration.

While I Diari Raccontano is an incredible archive of migration narratives, the homepage (which is not the landing page for the site) is currently defunct and reads “Error 404! The page you are looking for doesn’t exist” which could mislead users into thinking the entire website is defunct. This page should be removed. The site could also use a broader range of perspectives, including stories from LGBTQ+ individuals. Finally, the site would feel more engaging if it included interactive features. Right now, users mostly read static pages. Audio or video recordings of diary excerpts would also make the content feel more immersive, especially for those who prefer listening over reading. A timeline or storymap feature could help place stories within the context of historical migration waves and major global events.

The project does a great job of preserving and sharing Italian migration stories. With its combination of digital accessibility, archival depth, and thoughtful storytelling, I Diari Raccontano stands out as an important resource for migration studies, memory studies, and digital humanities.

How are collaborative aspects reflected in the project, and are there elements that work particularly well?

I Diari Raccontano’s collaborative approach is its strong point. The "Italiani all'Estero, i Diari Raccontano" project is powered by a dedicated team of researchers, writers, and visual storytellers who bring history to life.

At the heart of the project is Nicola Maranesi, a journalist, author, and historian with a passion for personal narratives. As the primary contributor, he has been instrumental in shaping the project, ensuring that the voices of Italians abroad are heard through their diaries and letters. Joining him is Pier Vittorio Buffa, an experienced journalist and writer who has fine-tuned the narratives, making sure they’re both engaging and historically accurate. Laura Ferro is the project’s archival detective—she’s responsible for tracking down and preparing these first-hand accounts, ensuring their stories are preserved and accessible. To give the project a strong visual dimension, Antonella Brandizzi has curated key images and documents, adding depth and context to the written testimonies. Meanwhile, Luigi Burroni captures stunning photographs of original documents, allowing readers to experience these historical records in their authentic form. Together, this team brings the history of Italian emigrants to life, weaving together words, images, and meticulous research to share these deeply personal and historically significant stories.

The collaboration of this varied team of professionals shows how meaningful knowledge production can happen through collective effort. The project also blends oral history, archival research, and digital tools, making it an interdisciplinary model for how to present history in an engaging way.

Do you see an opportunity for collaboration that would be helpful to the project?

• To expand its reach, the website producers could optimize social media platform-specific strategies. For example, they could leverage platforms like Instagram and TikTok to share engaging reels, live Q&As, and interactive stories (i.e. a hashtag challenge #myimmigrantstory) that might lead to more contributors.
  
• The producers could build a more interactive storytelling experience on the actual site, such as including user-submitted video or audio testimonials/oral histories.
  
• The producers might add an educational module for schools and universities, helping faculty and students engage with these stories as part of language, history, and social studies curricula.