Z. Keremidchieva. (2019). Review: To become an American: immigrants and Americanization campaigns of the early twentieth century. Argumentation & Advocacy, 55(4): 339-340. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Discourses of American national identity: echoes and lessons from the 1910s-1920s
Anti-immigration sentiment is intricately connected to an ethno-racial conception of American national identity, a connection that has deep roots in American politics and is increasingly visible in recent debates surrounding immigration. To support this claim, this article begins with an examination of the multiple traditions approach to American national identity which, in turn, frames a discussion of three recent incidents in US politics that illustrate the fusion of anti-immigrant sentiment and an ethno-racial national identity. It then illustrates how these incidents echo and recycle similar dynamics from the 1910s-1920s before examining the arguments of Horace Kallen and Randolph Bourne, both of whom defended forms of cultural pluralism as a counter-discourse to the anti-immigrant nativism, restrictionism, and 100% Americanism of the era. Their arguments are then evaluated to assess whether they remain useful in our current era. Despite some limitations, the insights of Kallen and Bourne can serve as a counter-discourse that helps bolster present-day arguments in favor of a more inclusive, pluralistic, egalitarian, and democratic vision of national identity in the US.
Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 2013
The allure of American citizenship and the function of patriotism among naturalized foreigners bring into focus questions of American national identity and the contested belief in the “whole of America.” European immigrant perspectives on the promise of the Declaration of Independence, naturalization, and political activism in the cultural arena created unforeseen conflicts in the process of acculturation. Patriotic declarations of Americanness resemble a means of distinguishing oneself from other Americans who appear to be less enthusiastic about the moral responsibility of American citizenship or take it for granted. The difference has often been described in terms of a “thrill.” This emotional excitement results from the creation of a fantasy space. Instead of being American by birthright, immigrants repeatedly emphasized the challenge of having to earn citizenship and democratic rights. How does the immigrant definition of Americanness differ from that of American born citizens? In how far does the State Department shape, channel, and control the cultural imaginary connected with the moment of becoming an American? The following article analyzes the complex interplay between the cultural imaginary of intellectual immigrants and the processes of the naturalization ceremony. I will focus on the series of 69 radio broadcasts entitled “I am an American,” which were produced between 1940 and 1943 by the Department of Justice of the United States in cooperation with the National Broadcasting Company.
We Want Americans Pure and Simple": Theodore Roosevelt and the Myth of Americanism
2003
have always troubled the national psyche, with the native-born and immigrants wondering what it means to be an American. Theodore Roosevelt attempted to shape those issues, attempts that still resonate today in the public consciousness. 1 This essay examines the mythic themes of Roosevelt's discourse in his narrative history The Winning of the West to explain how he used the Frontier Myth to lionize the immigrant in American culture. Moreover, the essay illuminates how his discourse not only provided a primer to immigrants about the expectations of American culture, but also worked to lessen the anti-immigrationist impulse.
Exploration of American Identity
The history of American identity is like no other nation. The speed in which it has grown, from floundering British offshoot — to first world superpower — is both alarming and remarkable. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to understand what can be learned from the process of the individual, rather than the nation. Most of the discussion is focused on an Early American Literature, as the period in which America was establishing itself has the biggest impact on the individual, as one must procreate the myths, force identity into being, rather than immerse oneself easily in the culture and work of previous generations. The quintessence of the dissertation is to revolve around the guidance of the past, but to consider the future. The introduction takes a look at Myth, with the aid of Nietzschean philosophy, to establish exactly why Myth is so important to human reality and identity. The first chapter takes a closer look into the Emigrant experience, and the way in which one was theoretically able to ‘become American’. The second chapter utilises the knowledge and sagacity of Melville, and his then misunderstood epic Moby-Dick, arguing the possibilities of egalitarianism and the dangerous familiarity of democracy. The last chapter considers Melville’s implication on a modern identity.
Commentary:Americanization for Historians
Diplomatic History, 2000
Jessica Gienow-Hecht avoids the term "Americanization" and prefers to address the question of "American cultural transfer." For me, Americanization remains the operative concept. Despite certain conceptual problems, this term identifies a phenomenon of immense significance that merits the attention of historians, including those concerned with international relations. To be sure, what constitutes Americanization seems difficult to distinguish from similar developments like modernization and globalization. And the process of transmitting America is extremely complex. Even "America" itself is hardly a coherent notion. Nevertheless, to my mind, none of these shortcomings invalidates the concept. Instead, they call for further study, clarification, and elaboration. Americanization can be given intellectual rigor by avoiding extreme positions and by offering an answer to what is "American" about the phenomenon. We need to discard cultural imperialism. I include myself among the third generation of scholars (though I owe nothing to poststructuralism) described by Gienow-Hecht who do not find this approach useful. Cultural imperialism misconstrues Americanization in several ways. It emphasizes imposition and coercion; assumes audience passivity; postulates cultural coherence for both exporters and importers; and anticipates global homogeneity as the outcome. "Imperialism" also carries a pejorative meaning, raising questions about shame and blame, when the historian's goal is not to judge, but to understand. Moreover, judgment, in this case, depends, as John Tomlinson has pointed out, on where you stand. Thus, as historians or tourists we may prefer the old to the new and protest against the loss of "tradition," but those receiving Americanization usually seem to delight in it. The Bavarian farmer who now shops at a mall, eats at a Taco Bell, and views Hollywood films at a multiplex probably does not yearn for the life of his grandfather. Americanization is a historical process, but it will not yield its secrets if we treat it as a manifestation of some loathsome "imperialism." Recent studies have undermined the concept of cultural imperialism by emphasizing how recipients have selected, adapted, and transformed what America has sent them. And transmission has come to look more like a two-way
"Marcus E. Ravage’s 'An American in the Making,' Americanization, and New Immigrant Representation"
MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the United States , 2015
In this essay I discuss M. E. Ravage’s autobiography, An American in the Making: The Life Story of an Immigrant (1917), a forgotten text in immigration literary history, and one of the most accomplished Romanian American Jewish autobiographies. I explore how the work of a first-generation immigrant writer and public intellectual contributes to contemporaneous debates about Americanization. I argue that, along with the cultural work of the immigrant press in the ideological context of the debates over what constitutes an American in the early twentieth century (the melting pot vs. cultural pluralism debate), Ravage’s text brings together consent to Americanization with simultaneous dissent. I show how Ravage rewrites not only the purported tragedy of the immigrant experience but also the genre of immigrant autobiography by challenging his readership to see instead “an American in the making,” a subject of literary production rather than an object of sociological inquiry and photojournalistic exposé. I suggest that the demands of the immigrant autobiography genre (established by the literary market) mirrored, in fact, the coercive demands of Americanization ideology at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Defining America: An Examination of Identity
America's change into a Minority-Majority country has presented its citizens with the challenge of redefining their identity. As the demography of the country changes, many are left to question whether the traditional views regarding the American Identity are still valid in light of the changing population of the United States. Written from the perspectives of a Turkish citizen, a naturalized American citizen, and a native-born American citizen this work examines American identity from three different lenses. Exploring ideas from the romantic and idealistic to the conflicts of trying to reconcile the complexities surrounding the American Identity, we examine how America is changing and how its identity is being manifested given the undergoing demographic and political changes.
Defining America: An Examination of Identity 1
2014
America’s change into a Minority-Majority country has presented its citizens with the challenge of redefining their identity. As the demography of the country changes, many are left to question whether the traditional views regarding the American Identity are still valid in light of the changing population of the United States. Written from the perspectives of a Turkish citizen, a naturalized American citizen, and a native-born American citizen this work examines American identity from three different lenses. Exploring ideas from the romantic and idealistic to the conflicts of trying to reconcile the complexities surrounding the American Identity, we examine how America is changing and how its identity is being manifested given the undergoing demographic and political changes.