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Thursday, March 23, 2023
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The
Italian Canadian writer Marisa De Franceschi describes her family
voyage to Canada in her first novel “Surface Tension”:
I can’t remember the ocean crossing. I only remember
what they have told me about it.
I have heard the stories countless times. If that part of the
memory which is sealed in the vault of early childhood could resurrect
them, they wouldn’t be more vivid.
We sailed just after the second great war. That’s what my
father used to call it. It was great because it managed to annihilate
populations, destroy vast
cities, and create havoc all over the world.
We are on a Turkish cargo ship sailing from Genoa. It has a
strange foreign name. All I am able to say of it are the first
words: the Mohammed Ali.
Our destination is Canada. We have relatives there: a great aunt and some cousins.
They have been in America since the first great war. This is what I hear my parents
say. This is how I learn there have been two great wars.
My parents say our relatives are in the hotel business and they are rich. We
are going to be staying with them.
It is here my personal memory begins. I find this quite remarkable.
To not be able to squeeze out remembrances of that turbulent voyage
but to remember events that followed so soon after. From here on,
I do not have to rely on the memory of others. I can now accumulate
and store events that will surface later, retrieving bits and pieces
whenever there is a catalyst. Some, I will notice, remain dormant
for decades. But they exist regardless. They are there. And I begin
to wonder, what else will I uncover? And when? |
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The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. |
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