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| Format | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Author, Analytic | Krawatzek, Felix and Gwendolyn Sasse |
| Title, Analytic | The simultaneity of feeling German and being American: Analyzing 150 years of private migrant correspondence |
| Journal Title | Migration Studies |
| Date of Publication | June 2020 |
| Volume ID | 8 |
| Issue ID | 2 |
| Location in Work | 161–188 |
| View Online | |
| Abstract | Analyzing the long-term dynamics of migrant integration is a significant challenge for researchers. This paper traces how ‘ordinary’ German-speaking migrants in the USA expressed their sense of participation and belonging throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries in the letters they wrote to their families ‘back home.’ We study a large collection of migrant letters written by German-speaking immigrants in the USA between 1830 and 1970 and analyze this new data with methods of computerized text analysis. The investigation shows how migrants continuously make and re-make identities within and across their heterogeneous migrant ‘groups.’ Our paper highlights the strong incentives for social and cultural integration in the absence of restrictive host state policies. We also show that political events and crises affecting both the country of origin and the destination country act as a catalyst in redefining, at least temporarily, parts of the migrant identities in relation to both the sending and host states. . . . Our research uses a large collection of letters sent by German migrants from the USA (Auswandererbriefe). Beyond commented editions of noteworthy letters (Helbich 1988; Helbich et al. 1988; Kamphoefner et al. 1991; Kamphoefner and Helbich 2006), the corpus our research is based on, has not yet been analyzed in its entirety. The Forschungsbibliothek Gotha (Germany) hosts the letter collection, mostly in hard copy, only partially transcribed and often heavily annotated.. |
| Call Number | Digital file |
| MKI Terms | Emigration and immigration (Germany-US/ Letters/ Ethnic identity |