Reflecting on a time well spent

Consul General of Italy Francesco Scarlata bids Toronto addio

This interview formed the subject for the last "call-up notice" between Francesco Scarlata, Consul General of Italy in Toronto, and this scribe. A few words of explanation: we had the habit of inviting each other for brunch, and called these invitations "call-up notices" like the postcards that informed young Italians of where and how they were supposed to surrender themselves for their compulsory military service. Our phone calls went more or less like this: "A call-up notice has been sent, for the day after tomorrow at 1 p.m. Where shall we meet?"
The brunch was the pretext for spending a couple of hours chatting about the state of the universe. There was no pretence to change the world; after every brunch the sun rose and set as usual, and this did not bother us in the least. However, informally exchanging ideas on the Middle East and the crisis in Eastern Europe, Umberto Eco's latest book and America after 9/11, was pleasant for me and I think also for him. He could at least stay away for some time from incoming e-mail and ringing phones, requests for appointments and invitations to events. Scarlata's analyses were sophisticated, as he adds sensitivity and culture to his professional training, as well as the Neapolitan ability to explain even difficult concepts with a few well-chosen words.
This was our last "call-up notice". We set Eco, the Middle East and Eastern Europe aside, and spoke about him, Francesco Scarlata, who's begun to pack his bags. In a month, in fact, his tour as Consul General in Toronto will be complete. His next post will be as an Ambassador. However, when I asked him where he will go next, he skilfully dodged the question. "If you can tell me where you'll go after Toronto, I'll tell you where I'll go", he said. I will go in the world, I replied. "So shall I. But rest assured that, wherever I'll go, I'll send you my 'call-up notices'."
He did not elaborate further, except for a small note: "If you will not write the interview on a first-name basis, you'll convince me that journalists lie about essential things." To avoid tarnishing the reputation of my profession, I submitted.
Compulsory question: what's the bottom line of these four years in Toronto?
"This would be a long story. I could not tell it in its entirety."
Are you being modest?
"No, really. And then, bottom lines smack of bureaucracy, or of old age: bottom lines are drawn when little is left of the day. I'd rather talk about the difference between my early expectations and the reality I found. For instance, I was not expecting such a congested urban sprawl in the places I normally see. This is a far cry from the ideas I had about Canada and its cities, entities that could interpret this country's wide spaces. It doesn't look like that to me, or at least it doesn't look like that any more. The major centres, although blessed by much lighter traffic than those in Europe, are no more relaxing than the cities of the Old World. Rather than a Canadian identity, the city mosaic exalts the resemblance with the United States. I expected to find greater differences between these two North American countries."
What does this entail?
"It entails the social tensions typical of the Western world, which I thought Canada was immune to: public services with a problematic present and an uncertain future; exceptionally long strikes, all but unknown elsewhere; even security for citizens is degrading, though it is still in much better shape than in the United States and in Europe."
Can this be blamed solely on the adjacency to the U.S.A.?
"Not exclusively. Unfortunately, globalization also means jeopardizing some happy 'islands,' like Ontario, and standardizing them. If a Martian were to fly over Ontario and the neighbouring U.S. states today, he could not distinguish the one from the others, like he could have done a few years ago. Maybe, if he landed, they would tell him that Ontarians have nothing in common with Americans. As a well-mannered Martian, he would maybe pretend to believe this. I don't know whether the Martian would like this standardization. Those who, like me, believe cultural diversity to be enriching our planet, don't."
Tell me something that struck you positively about Toronto.
"The Italian-Canadian community. I already knew that it was very large and active. But if its quantity did not surprise me, its quality did. I could not imagine that, in so little time, Italian-Canadians in Ontario and Manitoba had gone this far. In comparison to our immigrants in other countries, they made lightning progress, achieving much more ambitious goals over a much shorter period. This is the specific trait of our fellow nationals living in these two provinces of Canada."
Yes, the quality of our presence is very high, in entrepreneurship, in science, in culture...
"Yes, I'm also referring to our people who succeeded in these fields, but I'm talking especially of the vast mass of immigrants, and of their children and grandchildren, who obtained the respect of their new country by working with intelligence, persistence and spirit of sacrifice. Considering that this happened in an environment very different from the one they had left, and in conditions that, at least initially, were quite harsh, their success has additional value. And there's even more..."
What else?
"That, certainly, the characteristics of Canadian society - open, tolerant, ready to accept and repay contributions from everyone - played a role in the success of Italians. But our immigrants still carry the main merit. Let's not forget that their choice of coming here, thousands of kilometres from Italy, in a hostile climate, was much more courageous than that of those who emigrated to European countries in the Fifties and Sixties. Even more, the people who crossed the ocean in those years were leaving behind underprivileged areas of our country, but also an Italy in full economic boom, with extremely attractive cities that were the destination of a large internal migration. Going elsewhere was a bold move, deserving an adequate prize, and they got it."
What struck me most, as a newcomer like yourself, was also the ability of these people, and of their children and grandchildren, to create an Italian-Canadian culture.
"Well, as to the existence of an Italian-Canadian culture, some comments that could be considered 'heretical' come to my mind. But didn't Piero Gobetti say that heresy is a religion's real creative instance?"
Let's hear your heretical comments then.
"I'm not so sure that, in everyday reality, something tangible that could be called Italian-Canadian culture really exists. What's more, in my opinion the question of whether this exists or not is not even fundamental."
Do you mean I wasted my time when I prepared my 35-part series on this theme?
"Don't get me wrong. On the contrary, Tandem, which took the initiative to run that series, and the people that you interviewed or that intervened, are to be praised. For the most part, I share their arguments. But the point is another. Follow my reasoning: what really matters is the evidence, i.e. the great many Italian-Canadians producing high culture. But, you see, while finding an Italian-Canadian element in a literary work made here, where language and family and social contexts point to the country of origin, is relatively simple, this is not the case with scientific research, architectural feats, studies of law."
And yet, Italian-Canadians in increasing numbers are becoming top researchers, architects, doctors and lawyers. They even become talented politicians, and...
"...and politics based on the interpretation of popular opinions is a primary aspect of modern culture. I see where you are going. But I wonder, what about a famous biologist, born in Canada to an Italian mother and a Chinese father, having clinics in the United States and working in Canada? Where are we going to classify him? Is he an Italian-something? Do you know what is the problem, in my opinion? That the Italian character, especially here, is ubiquitous, but resists any attempt to be described in formulas. It is better to ask this question, which I heard from a bright Italian-Canadian politician: Can we imagine what Canada would be without Italians? I can, and I'm glad that Italians came here. Now, if your series would continue this would be a very useful and stimulating thing. And I'm not trying to flatter you."
Why should it continue?
"In order to learn and understand even more. My ideas about Italian-Canadian culture could be slightly out of focus. New voices, analyses and possibly unusual proposals could be heard; not necessarily realistic ones, but that's unimportant. I remember the words of Ottone, Baudolino's teacher in Umberto Eco's latest novel: 'The world condemns liars, who tell the false about everything, even the smallest things. On the other hand, it admires poets.' I would add journalists and the people they interview, who only lie about essential things."
What is this, heresy or meanness? If this is heresy I shall let it pass; if it's meanness I remind you that I'm interviewing you in this very moment. Do you mean you're lying?
"It's heresy. But leave us two aside for a moment, with the true and rational things we are saying, and think instead of the virtual reality that comes to us from TV screens and newspaper pages. How would you call that?"
The story would lead us quite afar. But just around the corner there is the vote, finally granted to people living abroad. What do you think about voter turnout in Toronto's consular district?
"We do not have scientific tools to make credible forecasts. Our only database concerns potential voters, and we're working to refine it. But voter turnout will be influenced by many factors, and will have different aspects in different countries."
What do you mean?
"I mean that it will depend on the degree of integration of our community in each country of residence, and on its detachment from Italian politics. Also, on concrete interests still in Italy. It will be greatly influenced by information. The quality and quantity of information will condition the turnout of voters as well as their choices. However, I would look at the vote abroad from another angle."
Which angle?
"Not how many will vote, how they will vote, whether and how much they are interested in this vote. I would see it as an opportunity offered by the Italian government and Parliament. It's an offer with a high democratic value, which goes hand in hand with the Comites, the Italian classes, and the programs of RAI. It's a first on the international scene. In fact, it is not true that by allowing people to vote abroad, Italy is lining up with other countries that already had it. Those countries had no communities, in the proper sense of this word, outside of their borders. Actually, they only allow temporary expatriated citizens, and very few of them, by mail or in the consulates. After 10 years abroad, Germany withdraws these voting rights. Portugal alone, among the countries with large communities abroad, organizes voting stations abroad for its citizens. We are more advanced than that, even compared with Portugal, because we created the foreign electoral wards. This means that Italians will not vote for the candidates of their wards of origin, those of their parents, grandparents or so on, but for candidates running from the continents where they live. This is an innovative, extraordinary offer of modern democracy coming from our country."
We've abundantly gone into overtime. I can allow you a parting shot.
"No shots, just my 'thank you' to my collaborators at the Consulate and at Istituto Italiano di Cultura. I was supported by first-class people, very attentive to the needs of those who asked, but especially attentive to the need to give a modern outlook to our country. You know me, Antonio. These are not empty words."

Publication Date: 2002-08-04
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1638