"With Paper Boats, Chiara Mazzucchelli not only fills a gap in literary criticism but also raises fundamental questions about the role of literature in preserving historical memory and giving voice to the experiences of the subaltern classes. This book is an invitation to reconsider the relationship between literature and society, between aesthetics and politics, and to explore how the past continues to shape the present. Mazzucchelli's work represents a milestone in migration studies and will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the deep roots of one of the most universal and yet most distinctly Italian experiences of modernity." — Giuseppe Raudino, Hanze University"Mazzucchelli offers a literary analysis that does not merely celebrate the great names of Sicilian literature; rather, her narrative inquiry delves into the social, political, and psychological complexity of a phenomenon that has indelibly marked the nation's history. Paper Boats, positioned halfway between literary criticism and historical reflection, also provides insights for the present, reminding us how literature can help us understand the challenges and sufferings of past migrations, sufferings not unlike the marginalization, inequalities, and material and cultural poverty of today's spiritual neocapitalism." — Antonino Contiliano, Retroguardia
