Citizenship and selfhood: Negotiating narratives of national and personal identity, 1900-1920
Abstract
People turn to stories to help them make sense of their society and their place within it. This is particularly true in periods of anxiety induced by rapid social and cultural transformation. The first two decades of the twentieth century were such a period for most Americans. I argue that the incongruity between America as "narrated" and America as "lived" produced tension which in turn fueled a complex process of negotiation and adaptation. Long-standing national narratives influenced the way in which people perceived and made sense of the reality of their contemporary surroundings, while at the same time that reality eventually forced the "rewriting" of old narratives or the substitution of new ones. Furthermore, these negotiated national narratives had a direct bearing on the personal narratives that people relied on to make sense of themselves as individuals. For stories that define a particular version of America also assume a particular version of individual Americans--assume, in other words, a particular selfhood that is seen as normative. Focusing on debates over the citizenship status of American Indians, immigrants, and African-Americans, this project examines three clusters of recurring national narratives, which I label Property Narratives, Conversion Narratives, and Household Narratives. Reading popular public texts such as plays, films, and citizenship ceremonies, I explore the ways in which the meaning of America and the meaning of American selfhood were negotiated in the realm of public discourse.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Oreovicz, Purdue University.
Subject Area
American studies|American literature|American history|African Americans
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