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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticKrawatzek, Felix and Gwendolyn Sasse
Title, AnalyticIntegration and Identities:The Effects of Time, Migrant Networks, and Political Crises on Germans in the United States
Journal TitleComparative Studies in Society and History
Date of PublicationOct. 2018
Volume ID60
Issue ID4
Location in Work1029-1065
URLPDF
NotesIncludes tables and graphs; bibliographical references.
AbstractOffers research findings from a large-scale analysis of the interlinked dynamics of integration and belonging based on perceptions of “ordinary” German-speaking migrants in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Draws on a corpus of over a thousand letters from the North American Letter Collection held at the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha in Germany. Through computer-assisted text analysis, framed by research on transnationalism and immigrant integration, explores patterns in integration and identities over time. Shows how the migrants continuously redefine their identities vis-à-vis their homeland and the host society, and their letters thereby shape the image of the United States and the homeland for their recipients. Establishes that integration into a host society is a non-linear process, with immigrant identities being influenced less by the time they have spent in the receiving country than by critical political events that affect both the country of origin and that of destination. Such events can reactivate migrant’s identifications with their homeland. Immigrant networks filter this dual process in that they can facilitate migrants’ integration while also reminding them of people and places left behind.
Call NumberDigital file (PDF)
MKI Terms19th century/ 20th century/ Emigration and immigration (Germany-US)/ Ethnic identity/ Assimiliation/ Letters/ Research