ABSTRACT

A term that is important here, related to the quote above, and central to this study, is medigan. It is Italian-American slang for “American.” Imagine someone with a thick Italian accent pronouncing the word, and it sounds like “Ah-med-i-gan,” which then became truncated to medigan. It is never a compliment in any context, but a derogatory term used to mark those who are not Italian. This is obvious in the quote above, where Sophia explains that the recipe is so simple that “even a medigan could do it.” It is used most often as a noun, to technically (and disdainfully) describe anyone who is not Italian, but the most usual application is WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) or other “Whiter” groups. It is almost never used to describe a person of color, or even anyone whose ethnicity is readily identifiable (other than White). This composes a complicated message about race, class, history, ethnicity, and culture, as it is used to distinguish Italian Americans from Whites as “Other” (implying some sort of cultural superiority). It might also be used as patronizing, as in, “the poor medigans, they just don’t know any better” (implying that “real” Italians do). And in the expression from Sophia, above, it is also about gender and performances of femininity, as she is also implicitly referring to non-Italian women in the discussion of recipes and cooking.