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| Format | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Creator | Fiedler, Timothy John |
| Title | Ethnic Identity in Later Generations: The Case of German-Americans in Waterloo, Illinois--A Preliminary Investigation |
| Dissertation Note (type -- academic institution) | Dissertation -- Southern Illinois University at Carbondale |
| Date | 1980 |
| Extent of Work | 274 pp. |
| Abstract | Ethnicity is a dimension of American life that has been understudied. While there has been a recent resurgence of interest in the study of ethnicity that study has concentrated mainly on ethnicity among the first, second, and to some extent, the third generations. Studies of ethnicity as it exists beyond the third generation are notably absent. This study is an investigation of the nature and content of ethnicity (an identity based on an allegiance to some set of shared ideas, external objects and patterns of behavior) as it exists in the third and fourth generations. The data in this study were obtained mainly through interviews conducted with sixty-five third and fourth generation German-Americans. The respondents were selected randomly from a community of German-Americans. We discuss the history of ethnicity and its expression among German-Americans in general and we make comparisons between the third- and fourth-generation respondents. We address two main questions in the study. One question deals with the disappearance or retention of ethnic identity across generations. The other question deals with the ways in which this ethnic identity is expressed. Ethnic identity persists in the third and fourth generations and it does not decline between these generations. We based this conclusion on the respondents' scores on a group cohesiveness scale and on the answers they gave to questions about their self-identity and their nationality background. Ethnicity persists in spite of some marriage across ethnic lines, a lack of subscriptions to ethnic publications and an absence of ethnic organizations. While the group has not lost its identity as an ethnic group it has modified, although not changed completely, its expression of ethnicity. Use and maintenance of the German language has declined especially among younger people, yet pride in that language remains. Knowledge of Germany is becoming increasingly general through generations, yet people from both generations have an interest in visiting Germany. Other expressions of ethnicity show no significant change across generations. Observance of certain holidays and preferences for and use of German foods do not change across generations. Respondents remain interested in obtaining and restoring German artifacts and antiques. The expression of ethnicity is turning toward ethnic celebrations, appreciation for German music and doing family histories. At the same time characteristics that German-Americans think describe people of German background, such as hard working and saving, are being extended in new directions and are being applied in the everyday lives of respondents. Changes in the expression of ethnicity have occurred in response to situations which are changing. What is viewed by some as a decline in ethnic identity in later generations is more accurately viewed as a change in the expressions of that identity. |
| Notes | UMI, printed in 1988. Book, in MadCat. |
| Call Number | MKI F550 G4 F53 1980a; shelved with MKI dissertations |
| MKI Terms | German Americans -- Illinois/ Ethnic identity |