The Quest for Self-Expression: Anzia Yezierska’s Portrayal of America as a Fake Golden Country.
The aim of this study is to show how the experience of Eastern European Jewish women in America challenged the discourse of the American Dream that they had previously fabricated in their homelands at the turn of the twentieth century. As portrayed by the Polish-born American writer Anzia Yezierska,...
| Published in: | Atlantis (0210-6124) Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 37 - 56 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Departament de Llengues i Literatures Modernes i d'Estudis Anglesos
6/1/2023
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=164638851&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 164638851 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02106124 VSM jtl: Atlantis (0210-6124) issn: 02106124 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 6/1/2023 vid: 45 iid: 1 pid: 19799 pub: Departament de Llengues i Literatures Modernes i d'Estudis Anglesos artinfo: ui: 164638851 10.28914/Atlantis-2023-45.1.03 ppf: 37 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.1MB tig: atl: The Quest for Self-Expression: Anzia Yezierska’s Portrayal of America as a Fake Golden Country. aug: au: CAMPOS, REBECA E. affil: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. su: East European Jews Jewish women Social mobility American Jews Discourse Yezierska, Anzia, ca. 1880-1970 American authors Social isolation American Dream Social marginality Cultural assimilation Self-expression Americas sug: subj: Americas East European Jews Jewish women Social mobility American Jews Discourse Yezierska, Anzia, ca. 1880-1970 American authors Social isolation American Dream Social marginality Cultural assimilation Self-expression keyword: americanización Americanization immigration inmigración mujeres judías sueño americano Yezierska americanización inmigración mujeres judías sueño americano ab: The aim of this study is to show how the experience of Eastern European Jewish women in America challenged the discourse of the American Dream that they had previously fabricated in their homelands at the turn of the twentieth century. As portrayed by the Polish-born American writer Anzia Yezierska, whose family migrated to New York at the time, these women initially aim their efforts towards achieving happiness through their belief that America provides equal opportunities for upward mobility. However, they eventually question their prospects of improvement and progress by creating their own Jewish American experience. In two of her short stories, “How I Found America” and “The Miracle,” Yezierska reproduces the hopelessness of her Jewish characters after they have faced the burdens of social exclusion and the classist policies of philanthropic programs of integration. Rather than completely assimilating American standards, the protagonists seek to build their own American experience while maintaining their Jewish cultural background, which paradoxically finds expression through institutional courses designed for newcomers. Este estudio muestra cómo la experiencia de las mujeres de Europa del Este en los Estados Unidos cuestionó a principios del siglo XX la legitimidad del sueño americano que previamente habían idealizado en sus lugares de procedencia. Estas mujeres, retratadas por la autora estadounidense Anzia Yezierska, nacida en Polonia y cuya familia emigró a Nueva York en esa época, inicialmente concentraron su energía en alcanzar la felicidad a través de la premisa de que en los EEUU existían las mismas oportunidades de ascenso social que para el resto de los habitantes. Sin embargo, terminarán sustituyendo sus aspiraciones de mejora y progreso generando su propia experiencia judía y estadounidense. En dos de sus relatos cortos, “How I Found America” y “The Miracle”, Yezierska reproduce la desesperanza de sus personajes una vez se han enfrentado a la exclusión social y las políticas clasistas de los programas filantrópicos de asimilación. En vez de asimilarse completamente al modelo de integración estadounidense, las protagonistas buscan crear su propia experiencia estadounidense sin perder su bagaje cultural judío, lo que paradójicamente se consigue a través de los programas institucionales diseñados para los recién llegados a los EEUU. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Atlantis (0210-6124) is the property of Departament de Llengues i Literatures Modernes i d'Estudis Anglesos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Atlantis (0210-6124) holder: Departament de Llengues i Literatures Modernes i d'Estudis Anglesos dt: @attributes: year: 2023 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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