Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-242) and index.
Contents:
The melting pot : assimilation to one another -- Henry James in the "intellectual pot-au-feu" -- James Weldon Johnson's integrationist chameleonism -- Recollection, reform, and "broken time" in Willa Cather -- Gertrude Stein and "individual anything" -- Afterword : melting-pot histories of the present.
Summary:
Wilson (English, U. of Toronto) examines literary texts and techniques that reflected and took part in the full-throated debate about acculturation during the early decades of the 20th century, when millions of immigrants poured into the US. After reviewing the varieties of melting-pot ideas being bruited in political circles, she discusses Henry James in the Intellectual Pot-au-feu; James Weldon Johnson's integrationist chameleonism; recollection, reform, and broken time in Willa Cather; and Gertrude Stein and individual anything. In an afterword, she considers melting-pot histories of the present. The notion of melting pot has been widely dismissed and ridiculed for the past few decades, and Wilson reminds scholars that it was once reputable and even noble.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.