Professor Pietro Frassica has taught in the French and Italian Department since before it was called the French and Italian Department. He joined the University in 1976. In addition to lecturing on the literature of the Italian Renaissance and Italian dramatist Luigi Pirandello, Professor Frassica introduced Food Studies to the curriculum in the 1990s with one of his most popular seminars, The Literature of Gastronomy.
The Daily Princetonian spoke with Professor Frassica to hear more about his perspective on literature and Princeton after all these years.
Daily Princetonian (DP): What initially drew you to teaching and the field of Italian literature?
Pietro Frassica (PF): I always had teaching as one of my priorities, even as a child. Obviously, I had other ideas, like singing, but when I started seriously studying and going to university, I knew my goal was to do research, write, teach, and eventually bring my work to the classroom.
Through literature, you learn a lot about life, even within fiction. You learn how to somehow deal with your emotions, with your way of understanding life, and this is what I like to also bring to the students. It’s important, especially nowadays, to not lose the sense of understanding and exchanging ideas in a free context.
So, for me, I didn’t want to do anything else. I’ve been very happy, and I’m prolonging my teaching as long as I can, as long as I feel healthy and comfortable.
DP: What led you to start teaching at Princeton, and what made you decide to stay?
PF: Before I came to Princeton, I had the choice between Princeton and Berkeley. For an Italian, Princeton is much closer to Italy, which seems silly, but geography was an important factor for me. But also, when I first visited the campus, I fell in love with the place. I really fell in love.
I said, “This is the place I’d like to be, and I’m staying as long as I can,” because I loved the place, the people, the department, the students, and the way it’s structured. I felt very comfortable then, and I feel comfortable now. Of course, I had the opportunity over the years to go somewhere else, but I always said, “Okay, I can come and visit to give a lecture, but I will never leave Princeton.”
I also love to walk into the classroom and see the students. Seeing them asking questions and participating gives me a lot of energy. Even after so many decades, I still feel as if it’s the first time.
DP: How have your experiences here influenced your own work and approach to literary education?
PF: I listen to students a lot. Their reactions are very important to me. Over the years, I have seen a lot of changes in students, so I want to know what aspects of literature or history they are interested in. This makes me very eager to answer to their expectations, because times have changed, and I find it very exciting to see how students perceive literature differently now.
When students come to me and say, “I have an idea, but maybe it’s silly,” I always respond, “No, no, nothing is silly. You speak, I listen, and we can discuss that. You are in the classroom and we talk. You tell me how you feel.” So it’s important for me also to somehow evolve with the time and with the students.
I also bring my research to class, because to make a class lively, you have to bring your own experience and share what you do, how you do it, the kind of methodology you use.
DP: In 1993, started offering a class on literary texts concerned with gastronomy, a novel field at the time. What inspired you to study this unique connection, and how has this relationship between food and literature affected the rest of your interdisciplinary studies?
PF: Teaching this course has been an incredible experience, because the students like the idea of studying fiction. It contains not only descriptions of dinners, but descriptions of lack of food, especially in books that describe war and concentration camps. So food is not only eating, but also a lack of eating, which is very important in our days to consider too.
To talk about the literature of gastronomy, you must necessarily speak about other things like history, politics, anthropology, sociology, biology, and all kinds of disciplines, because food is something you find everywhere. It’s a common denominator for everybody. People also have different traditions, so when you bring that factor into the classroom, it opens up the whole discussion.
The class, ITA 319, is being taught this semester as an interdisciplinary course that explores the depiction of food in Italian literature through anthropological, cultural, and socio-political lenses. Drawing from well-known stories like “Pinocchio,” selections from cookbooks, and the 1972 film “Roma,” the course seeks to understand how food and the action of eating can serve as a commentary on life in Italian society.
DP: Beyond your work at Princeton, you’ve been deeply involved in the community, serving as a trustee for Dorothea’s House, an Italian-American cultural institution. What initially led you to take on this role, and how has it shaped your experience at Princeton?
PF: Dorothea’s House invited me many years ago to be one of their trustees, and I accepted because I felt it was important to give the community something. We always have to be happy for what we get, for what we have, and to give it back. As part of the organization, we organize cultural events. I bring my experience at Princeton to invite people for lectures and concerts, among other things. We also give 10 to 15 scholarships to young people who are residents in Princeton.
Although the University has obviously been a big part of my life, since it’s where I live, Dorothea’s House has also given me a sense of the Princeton community beyond the University. It gives me an incredible sense of accomplishment to help these young, promising people for four years.
DP: If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring Italian majors today, what would it be?
PF: When you are away from your family, you are on your own. So talk to people. Talk to your professors. If you have a problem, rather than feeling isolated, you can talk to your professor. Professors don’t only teach literature, or mathematics, or chemistry. Professors are human beings, and I do think there is always the possibility of communicating on a different level with students. To me, it is very important not to lose the human aspect in any kind of relationship in life.
Angela Li is an assistant Features editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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