Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism
This article analyzes four immigrant memoirs – Mary Antin's The Promised Land (1912); Jacob Cash's What America Means to Me (1925); Constantine Panunzio's The Soul of an Immigrant (1922), and M. E. Ravage's An American in the Making (1917) – in the light of their contribution to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2021-07-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/17128 |
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| author | Anita Jarczok |
| author_facet | Anita Jarczok |
| author_sort | Anita Jarczok |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyzes four immigrant memoirs – Mary Antin's The Promised Land (1912); Jacob Cash's What America Means to Me (1925); Constantine Panunzio's The Soul of an Immigrant (1922), and M. E. Ravage's An American in the Making (1917) – in the light of their contribution to the nationwide debate over immigration that took place against the background of heightened antagonism towards the immigrant community at the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States. It argues that these life narratives represent diverse perspectives on the Americanization process: two of them – Cash's and Antin's – seem to endorse the assimilationist point of view, while the other two – Panunzio's and Ravage's – lean more towards arguments voiced by cultural pluralists. All four texts try to refute restrictionists' claims based on pseudo-scientific racial theories. This article also suggests a way of classifying autobiographies authored by European immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0fd505f281ff4d07bd36a6ad02929847 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-0fd505f281ff4d07bd36a6ad029298472025-01-06T09:08:38ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362021-07-0116210.4000/ejas.17128Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural PluralismAnita JarczokThis article analyzes four immigrant memoirs – Mary Antin's The Promised Land (1912); Jacob Cash's What America Means to Me (1925); Constantine Panunzio's The Soul of an Immigrant (1922), and M. E. Ravage's An American in the Making (1917) – in the light of their contribution to the nationwide debate over immigration that took place against the background of heightened antagonism towards the immigrant community at the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States. It argues that these life narratives represent diverse perspectives on the Americanization process: two of them – Cash's and Antin's – seem to endorse the assimilationist point of view, while the other two – Panunzio's and Ravage's – lean more towards arguments voiced by cultural pluralists. All four texts try to refute restrictionists' claims based on pseudo-scientific racial theories. This article also suggests a way of classifying autobiographies authored by European immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/17128immigrationAmericanizationassimilationimmigrant autobiographycultural pluralismrestrictionism |
| spellingShingle | Anita Jarczok Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism European Journal of American Studies immigration Americanization assimilation immigrant autobiography cultural pluralism restrictionism |
| title | Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_full | Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_fullStr | Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_short | Immigrant Memoirs in the Service of Americanization: Between “the Melting Pot” and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_sort | immigrant memoirs in the service of americanization between the melting pot and cultural pluralism |
| topic | immigration Americanization assimilation immigrant autobiography cultural pluralism restrictionism |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/17128 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anitajarczok immigrantmemoirsintheserviceofamericanizationbetweenthemeltingpotandculturalpluralism |