AMERICA: THE ANTI-UTOPIA OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION

Based on the theory of social imaginary, this article discusses aspects of Italian immigrants' cultural identity in the novels A Cocanha and O Quatrilho, by Jose Clemente Pozenato. Initially, it analyses images referring to the Myth of Cocanha, which guided characters' hopes about Brazil; in a second moment, the text verifies in what measure these projections became true in a new land; at last, it examines the process of adaptation to the new context, as well as the process of reconstruction of the cultural identity. By this way, the analysis promotes a dialogue between literary and historical studies..