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Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Stefano Canale
Oral history recording with Stefano Canale. He grew up in Tonpentre and is a third generation Welsh-Italian. His grandmothe, grandfather and father were also recorded as part of the project. See AV 11357 - AV 11362. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Son of Mario Canale and grandson of Steven and Lina, Stefano is a third generation Welsh-Italian. He grew up in Ton Pentre, a little 'drive-through' town between Tonypandy and Treorchy, right in the middle of the Welsh Valleys. The first of four children, Stefano lived a fairly uneventful but happy life until he left to study at a degree level in England. Growing up in the valleys he was known as the 'Italian'. This description however, did not have any derogatory meaning or connotations. It merely distinguished him from 'proper' Welsh people, those who could actually speak the Welsh language. Similarly, Stefano found that when he left for England to study, he was seen very much as a Welsh man, probably, he argues, on the account of his Welsh valley's accent. Having completed his studies, he married and moved away, first to Australia, following a promising job as a designer in the car industry, and then to England. Interestingly, although his family was very successful in the one of the most traditional of all Italian enterprises abroad - the making and selling of ice cream- Stefano, wanted to pursue a dream of its own. Drawing from his father’s passion for cars (almost exclusively from the Fiat range), Stefano had a passion for designing cars his parents supported him in this, even if they were aware that particular field was very narrow and very highly competitive. Stefano explains that although life in Australia looked full of promises, the pull to his birth family was too strong. After two years out there he and his wife came back. Stefano is part of a very close and nurturing second-generation Welsh Italian family, who have a strong sense of their Italian roots and traditions. He was exposed to many of the seasonal events, such as the carnevale or la scampagnata (a day outing for families, picnicking and playing games in lovely countryside surroundings), which would take place within the Welsh-Italian community in the seventies and eighties. But particularly memorable for Stefano were and still are, the Christmases spent with his family. On those occasions, the all family and their close relatives (grandparents, uncles and aunties), would get together to make, in well organised fashion, and under the expert leadership of Stefano's mother, Christina, thousands and thousands of ravioli, their favourite dish at Christmas. But perhaps even more important, for their daily recurrence, were the times spent together chatting and cherishing each other around the dinner table, three times a day. Activities like these have left meaningful memories in his mind, which have helped him to establish a certain type of lifestyle and have strengthened the bond with his family and his connection with Italy. Stefano is actively working never to break that bond; he will be making a film of his grandmother when she cooks and makes a sugo that no one has even been able to reproduce. It is very important for him to keep that tradition going for as long as possible, and keep it as genuine as possible. His parents used to take him and his sisters to Italy during the summer holidays, Stefano, with his wife Emma (a fluent Welsh speaker and enthusiastically 'tuned' to the Italian ways), goes now to Italy on the regular basis (two to three times a year), consciously aware of wanting to keep his precious connections with the country and the culture alive and strong. In his view, differences should be celebrated, so he is happy to be an Italian in Wales and a Welsh man in Italy. For all these reasons, they are now both learning the language in earnest. He is looking forward for his future children to grow up in this spirit. When asked 'what is the strongest value that you feel you have inherited from your Italian background?’ Stefano replies without hesitation that it is the love for one's family, it is to be so family centred and have a tremendous sense of respect for one's parents.