01658nas a2200145   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002100001800043245012800061856015300189300001200342490000700354520113100361022002001492                                       d1 aM. di Giovine00aLa Vigilia Italo-Americana: revitalizing the Italian-American family through the christmas eve "feast of the seven fishes".  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-78649954058&doi=10.1080%2f07409710.2010.529012&partnerID=40&md5=978c9386a25107786e098b95511a5c2b  a181-2080 v183 aThis article ethnographically examines the symbolic importance of seafood and its ritualized consumption in demarcating ideals of "authenticity" and "intangible heritage" in the famed Italian-American Christmas Eve feast, La Vigilia. The Vigilia is a rite of intensification intended to revitalize a community in a climate of schism and "acculturation," and a rite of incorporation for inte- grating American spouses into the family s heritage. While contin- ually transforming as participants entertain new culinary under- standings, cultivate "Americanized" tastes, and integrate spouses into the ritual, the practices of selecting, preparing, and ritually consuming the Vigilia s food serve to maintain traditional gender roles, reinforce ethnic bonds through commensality, and denote "authenticity" through taste preferences. Suggesting that authenticity is conveyed not through a particular object or its taste, but rather through intangible processes, the author argues that the Vigilia feast becomes a central means of negotiating the antithetical pressures of maintaining tradition and embracing social transformation.  a07409710 (ISSN)