Centre for Newfoundland Studies May Be Xeroxed
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES TOTAL OF 10 PAGES ONLY MAY BE XEROXED (Without Author's Permission) IMMIGRANT NATIONS, POSTIMMIGRANT SUBJECTIVITIES: LOCATING THE IMMIGRANT IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION by © Batia Boe Stolar A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Language & Literature Memorial University of Newfoundland September 2003 St. John's Newfoundland Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgments ..... .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 111 Dedication ........................................ ................................... .................... ........... .......... 1v Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Definitions . .. .. ... .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. ...... .. .. .. .. .. .. 24 1.1 Defining the Immigrant: Semantic Analysis . .. .. .. ... .. 24 1.2 The Immigrant versus the Native ................................................... 33 1.3 Redefining the Nation: the Immigrant Nation ............................. 45 1.4 The Immigrant and the Immigrant Nation..................................... 52 Chapter 2 Immigrant Nations ................................................................................ 57 Part I 2.1 American Immigration: A Historical Overview ... ... .. ................... 60 2.2 The "Old Immigration" versus the "New Immigration" .............. 68 2.3 Multiplicity in Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers ............................ 75 2.4 The Politics of Assimilation ........................................................... Ill 2.5 Theories of Assimilation .............................................................. 126 Part II 2.6 Canadian Immigration: A Historical Overview ...... ....... ......... ..... 14 7 2.7 Passing and Masking in Frederick Philip Grove's A Search for America . .. .. .. ... ........... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. 165 Chapter 3 Alie(N)ations .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. ...... .. .. .. 200 Part I 3.1 The Politics of Alienation ........................................................... 203 3.2 The Alien Nation ......................................................................... 221 3.3 Literary and Cinematic Representations of Alien Invasions and the Alie(N)ation: Jack Finney's and Don Siegel's Invasion ofthe Body Snatchers .. ... .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. 226 Part II 3.4 The Canadian Alie(N)ation . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 283 3.5 Canada and the Cold War: the Political Climate and The Immigration Act of 1952 ..................................................................... 285 3.6 "We must dance to the tune of the stranger": Adele Wiseman's The Sacrifice .. ..... .. ... ....... .. .......... ... ... .. ........ .. ......... ... ......... ...... ..... 297 Chapter 4 Multicultural Nations .......................................................................... 327 Part I 4.1 Canada's Metamorphosis: Toward New Policy (A Brief History) ................................................................................................ 331 4.2 The 1976 Immigration Act: A Multicultural Policy? .................. 335 4.3 "Official" Multiculturalism: The Canadian Multiculturalism Act ....................................................................................................... 338 4.4 Literary Representations of Multiculturalism: The Multicultural City ...................................................................................................... 343 Partll 4.5 American Multiculturalism ......................................................... 372 4.6 "Watch me reposition the stars": Immigrant Agency in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine ........................................................................... 380 Afterword 421 Works Cited 428 Appendix A 448 Appendix B 453 Appendix C 455 Appendix D 461 Abstract The term immigrant is persistently dismissed in contemporary immigrant narratives in Canada and the United States, as well as in the literary criticism about immigrant literature. As the immigrant gives way to the diasporic, the exile, the nomad or the border-crosser, we need to reconsider the meanings of the term itself in order to investigate why this dismissal occurs at a time when we are veering closer to a multicultural society that appears to erase national borders on the one hand and to maintain the borders of the local on the other. Why has the term immigrant become objectionable? Why does it no longer reflect the subjective pulls and tensions that contemporary literary and critical trends depict and interrogate? To answer these questions, we must turn back to what can be termed the "classic" or "heroic" immigrant narrative that has dominated most of the twentieth century. Doing so allows us to trace the development of the term immigrant, as it acquires multiple significations which rupture its already fragile meanings. This dissertation examines the acquisition of multiple meanings and subcategorization that the term immigrant undergoes throughout the twentieth century. To explore this semiotic fragmentation, it is necessary to examine the complex relationship that exists between the immigrant and the nations/he enters into. As the nation defines the immigrant, so too does the immigrant define the nation. By focusing on three key moments in the legislative history of Canada and the United States (the 1921 and 1924 1 national origins quota system of immigration and the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act in the United States, and the 1976 Immigration Act and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act in Canada), we can explore how the meaning of the term immigrant ruptures to produce conflicting subcategories that problematize any coherent or authoritative meaning. In addition, we need to explore how the literature corresponding to each of these three historical moments responds to the legislation changes that redefine the meaning of the immigrant. This dissertation therefore focuses on Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers and Frederick Philip Grove's A Search for America in the 1920s, Jack Finney's and Don Siegel's Invasion ofthe Body Snatchers and Adele Wiseman's The Sacrifice in the 1950s, and Austin Clarke's Nine Men Who Laughed, Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin ofa Lion and Bharati Mukerhjee's Jasmine in the 1980s and 1990s. Each of these literary or cinematic fictions responds to its contemporary immigrant issues, not only voicing the concerns but redefining the immigrant by literarily inscribing the immigrant into being. 11 Acknowledgments This dissertation and my doctoral studies have been made possible by the Doctoral Fellowships I received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Memorial University of Newfoundland. I am grateful to the Department of English Language and Literature, the School of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Students' Union for their generous support throughout my doctoral studies. A dissertation is in many ways a collective process and many people have contributed to the development of this project. I am thankful to all the members of the Department of English for their unflagging support, encouragement, interest, and input. I am indebted to my supervisor, Noreen Golfman, for taking a chance to work on this project with me, as well as for her unfaltering support, encouragement, and inspiration throughout these past years. Her advice and tutelage have been invaluable, have helped to shape and direct this project, and have helped to form many of the critical questions I wish to explore beyond this dissertation. I cannot thank her enough. Many people have read earlier versions or sections of this dissertation, and have offered sound advice which has been instrumental in the development of the project as a whole. I am especially grateful to Gregory S. Kealey, Bernice Schrank, and William Barker for their insightful comments. I am also thankful to my friend and colleague, Allyson Jackson, for her interest, comments, and help making some of the Canadian immigration policies and documents available to me. In addition, I would like to thank Lawrence Mathews, Denyse Lynde, Jerry Varsava, Elizabeth Miller, Stella Algoo-Baksh, Valerie Legge, and Linda Vecchi for asking questions and making suggestions that have influenced my work. Many thanks also to Gordon Jones, Donna Walsh, and Helene Staveley. There are no words to thank my mother, Esther Merikanskas, for the financial, emotional, intellectual, and creative support she has unconditionally given me throughout my life and academic career. I am also grateful for the continued support and understanding of my family and friends; thanks to Suki and Rubin for their patience and love, to Oscar Daniel Parada Palafox for his encouragement and humour, and to Joyce and David Ivison for their interest and encouragement. Finally, Douglas Ivison has provided invaluable advice and insightful comments, has helped to gather research materials and collect news stories on immigration, and has supported and always encouraged me and my project. For his belief in me and my project, his encouragement, understanding, and patience, my gratitude and love. 111 This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my grandparents, Simon Merikanskas and Bassia Berkovsky, who began our immigrant journeys. To my mom, Esther, as always, and to Doug, with love. Nadie es profeta en su propia tierra - Proverbio Mexicano adaptado de: "[... ] ningun profeta es acepto en su tierra." (Antigua Version de Cipriano de Valera, Lucas 4.24) Noone