At the turn of the century; New York City's Germans constituted a culturally and politically dynamic community; with a population 600;000 strong. Yet fifty years later; traces of its culture had all but disappeared. What happened? The conventional interpretation has been that; in the face of persecution and repression during World War I; German immigrants quickly gave up their own culture and assimilated into American mainstream life.But in Translating America; Peter Conolly-Smith offers a radically different analysis. He argues that German immigrants became German-Americans not out of fear; but instead through their participation in the emerging forms of pop culture. Drawing from German and English newspapers; editorials; comic strips; silent movies; and popular plays; he reveals that German culture did not disappear overnight; but instead merged with new forms of American popular culture before the outbreak of the war. Vaudeville theaters; D.W. Griffith movies; John Philip Sousa tunes; and even baseball games all contributed to German immigrants' willing transformation into Americans.Translating America tackles one of the thorniest questions in American history: How do immigrants assimilate into; and transform; American culture?
#3932537 in Books 2005-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x .36 x 5.50l; .46 #File Name: 1585496987158 pages
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. For my family treeBy Debra J. ConwayMy great-grandfather was in the Civil War Southern Confederate Army based in New Orleans. No one knows how or why he wa;s there from Canada; so I'm always looking to find information about him. This little book is very interesting even though I didn't find anything to help my search.
