Abstract: This article explores the role of legends and family stories in gendering and decolonizing US immigration and ethnic history, particularly through the lens of Italian/American literature and culture. Using the theoretical framework of the politics of representation, the analysis concentrates on the function of mythic and passed-down stories not only as naturalizing agents of cultural norms but as a means to destabilize hegemonic narratives, particularly gendered history and media influence. Laurie Fabiano's family saga "Elizabeth Street" (2006) is a debut novel that intertwines the strands of history, autobiography and journalistic research, among others. Precisely the status of this novel as a hybrid genre sheds light into the additional use of alternative sources such as legendary and familial narratives to study migration and ethnic history, as well as to (re)imagine the past from a feminist perspective.

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