Max Kade Institute Library Search

Use the above window to search all fields. Otherwise, search individual fields below.
Please note: In many of the bibliographic records, MKI has not used umlauts (ä, ö, ü) or the letter ß. Try searching both for umlauts and for ae, oe, or ue, and ss.

FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticKersten, Holger
Title, AnalyticUsing the Immigrant's Voice: Humor and Pathos in Nineteenth Century 'Dutch' Dialect Texts
Journal TitleMELUS
Date of PublicationWinter 1996
Volume ID21
Location in Work3-17
AbstractDialect writing that set out to imitate the speech of immigrants has usually been excluded from scholarly scrutiny on the basis of the assumption that this form of expression was nothing but a stock dialect invented to denigrate the foreigner....A close look at some selected writers and their subject matter makes it clear that, on the contrary, they usually had a lot of sympathy, if not high regard, for their protagonists and the national group they stood for. Examines the character of "Carl Pretzel," created by journalist Charles H. Harris; anthologies of Dutch dialect anecdotes, songs, skits, and speeches, most intended for recitation; actors who played German-American characters, including Joseph Emmet and George S. Knight; and the poems of Charles Follen Adams, who created "Yawcob Strauss" and other German dialect characters.
NotesThe Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
Call NumberMKI P2004-6
MKI TermsHumor & Satire/ Dialects/ German Americans/ Adams, Charles Follen, 1842-1918