I was born, I have lived, and I have been made over. Is it not time to write my life’s story? […] It is because I understand my history, in its larger outlines, to be typical of many, that I consider it worth recording. My life is a concrete illustration of a multitude of statistical facts. […] I am only one of many whose fate it has been to live a page of modern history. We are the strands of the cable that binds the Old World to the New (Antin,PL13-5)2.
I suddenly realized that I had come back to where I had started twenty years ago when I began my fight for freedom. […] And now I realized that the shadow of the burden was always following me, and here I stood face to face with it again. […] But I felt the shadow still there, over me. It wasn’t just my father, but the generations who made my father whose weight was still upon me (Yezierska,BG295-7)3.
These are two quotations by two immigrant women - both experiencing an incisive and complete change in their young lives through the immigration from Eastern Europe to the United States of America at the end of the nineteenth century. This thesis investigates their individual immigrant experience that they claim to be representative of the lives of many. Immigration has always exerted a great influence on American life. Towards the turn to the 20thcentury, the United States was confronted with the largest stage of immigration ithe nation’s history. From 1890 on, a total of twenty million people entered the country until the 1920s (cf. Di Pietro, Ifkovic 6). Immigrants at the time were mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe; the largest groups were formed by Italians, Hebrews, Polish, Germans and English (cf. Gabbacia 140). On the one hand, the rapidly developing “economic expansion” (139) in the US required human labor; on the other hand, life in Europe was determined by famine and epidemics as well as political and religious persecution, to outline briefly the most important reasons for this big wave of migration.
The conflict between the immigrants’ expectations of a better life in the New World and the actual living conditions as well as the political climate the immigrants had to face in the United States has been treated in literature in many ways. The examination of cultural or ethnic identity and the process of assimilation, in this case Americanization, and its effects are very important issues in immigration literature as well.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Definitions and Theoretical Considerations
2.1. The Concept of Ethnicity
2.1.1. Ethnicity and Ethnic Identity
2.1.2. Ethnicity in American Society
2.2. Ethnic Writing
2.2.1. The Role of Ethnicity in American Literature – What is Ethnic Writing?
2.2.2. Jewish-American Literature
2.3. To Write Your Life Story – Autobiographical Writing
2.3.1. What is Autobiography?
2.3.2. The Construction of Authenticity
2.4. Autobiography in Ethnic Contexts – An Attempt to define Immigrant Autobiography
3. Reading Mary Antin’s The Promised Land as Immigrant Autobiography
3.1. One-Way Assimilation – From the Old World shtetl Girl to the New England Woman
3.2. The Story Behind the Immigrant Classic
4. Anzia Yezierksa’s Bread Givers
4.1. Difficulties and Struggles in the Process of Assimilation
4.2. The Father-Daughter-Relationship as a Reflection of the Immigrant Dilemma
5. Conclusion
6. Works Cited
Objectives and Thematic Focus
This thesis examines the literary treatment of the Jewish immigrant experience in the United States, specifically focusing on how the authors construct ethnic identity through autobiographical and semi-autobiographical forms. It investigates the tension between "descent" (ethnic heritage) and "consent" (self-chosen cultural identity) in Mary Antin’s The Promised Land and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers.
- Theoretical analysis of ethnicity and ethnic identity in the American context.
- Examination of the genre of ethnic and immigrant autobiography as a form of cultural mediation.
- Comparative literary analysis of Antin’s optimistic portrayal of assimilation versus Yezierska’s more complex, negativity-prone perspective.
- Exploration of generational conflicts and the father-daughter relationship as reflections of the immigrant dilemma.
- Investigation of how both authors utilize autobiographical writing to construct authenticity and engage with American identity.
Extract from the Book
1. Introduction
I was born, I have lived, and I have been made over. Is it not time to write my life’s story? […] It is because I understand my history, in its larger outlines, to be typical of many, that I consider it worth recording. My life is a concrete illustration of a multitude of statistical facts. […] I am only one of many whose fate it has been to live a page of modern history. We are the strands of the cable that binds the Old World to the New (Antin, PL 3-5).
I suddenly realized that I had come back to where I had started twenty years ago when I began my fight for freedom. […] And now I realized that the shadow of the burden was always following me, and here I stood face to face with it again. […] But I felt the shadow still there, over me. It wasn’t just my father, but the generations who made my father whose weight was still upon me (Yezierska, BG 295-7).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the scope of the thesis, highlighting the immigrant experience of Mary Antin and Anzia Yezierska as central to American literary history.
2. Definitions and Theoretical Considerations: Outlines the concepts of ethnicity, immigrant writing, and autobiographical writing, focusing on constructivist approaches to identity.
3. Reading Mary Antin’s The Promised Land as Immigrant Autobiography: Analyzes Antin’s text as an example of optimistic, "hymn-like" assimilation and explores the hidden narratives beneath its surface.
4. Anzia Yezierksa’s Bread Givers: Examines Yezierska’s complex, often critical perspective on assimilation and the generational conflict within immigrant families.
5. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, confirming that both authors actively constructed ethnic identities and served as literary agents in the East-to-West immigrant dialogue.
6. Works Cited: Lists the academic references utilized throughout the research.
Keywords
Ethnicity, Immigrant Autobiography, Assimilation, Americanization, Jewish-American Literature, Identity Construction, Descent and Consent, Mary Antin, Anzia Yezierska, The Promised Land, Bread Givers, Cultural Mediation, Autobiographical Truth, Modernism, Generational Conflict.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this thesis?
The work investigates the literary representation of the Jewish immigrant experience in the United States, specifically comparing the autobiographical works of Mary Antin and Anzia Yezierska.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Central themes include the construction of ethnic identity, the process of assimilation (Americanization), generational conflicts, and the role of the autobiographical genre in mediating between Old World heritage and New World realities.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to analyze how these two authors use autobiographical and semi-autobiographical forms to construct identities and how they negotiate the tension between their ethnic backgrounds and their status as Americans.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The thesis utilizes a comparative literary approach grounded in contemporary debates on ethnicity and autobiography, drawing heavily on constructionist theories to evaluate the texts.
What is addressed in the main chapters?
The main chapters provide a theoretical framework regarding ethnicity and autobiography before applying these concepts to in-depth analyses of Antin’s The Promised Land and Yezierska’s Bread Givers.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key terms include Ethnicity, Immigrant Autobiography, Assimilation, Americanization, Jewish-American Literature, and Identity Construction.
How does Antin’s approach to assimilation differ from Yezierska’s?
Antin’s work is characterized by a seemingly optimistic, almost "hymn-like" embrace of Americanization, whereas Yezierska’s work is more critical, focusing on the psychic pain and struggles of independence for the immigrant woman.
What role does the "father-daughter relationship" play in Yezierska’s work?
It acts as a primary vehicle for illustrating the cultural conflict between traditional, Old World Jewish values represented by the father and the quest for a self-determined American identity sought by the daughter.
How do the authors define the genre of autobiography?
Following constructivist critics like James Olney and Sidonie Smith, the thesis views these autobiographies not as simple historical records of fact, but as creative "performative acts" that construct a sense of self and authenticity.
- Citation du texte
- Birgit Wieking (Auteur), 2006, The Jewish Immigrant Experience in Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers and Mary Antin's The Promised Land, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/65579
