The Quest for Whiteness in Willa Cather’s "My Ántonia" (1918) and Henry Roth’s "Call It Sleep" (1934)

The aim of this paper is to trace the assimilation process of European immigrants to the United States at the turn of the century in Willa Cather’s My Ántonia (1918) and Henry Roth’s Call It Sleep (1934). Bearing in mind the historical relevance of race and whiteness in the United States, I analyse the changes performed by Cather’s and Roth’s protagonists in order to achieve the status of white. To this purpose, I provide a brief overview of the nature of whiteness in the United States and its epistemological changes to account for its importance within the novels. I then look at the transformations characters perform in terms of religious faith and gender norms, as well as their interaction with English and spaces to become integrated in the new land. In doing so, differences between the novels arise, but so does a subtext of violence common to the immigrant experience.

Mental representations of immigrants encode racialized expectations of socio-structural positions

Illegalized immigrants are mentally associated with specific visual expectations (e.g., dark-skinned threats) and classifications (e.g., Latin American, Syrian, poor, economic drains). However, these findings provide only partial accounts of how migrant illegality is represented: visual representations could shift depending on the various societal positions or categories illegalized immigrants occupy. We therefore introduce a factorial cross-categorical reverse correlation design where online participants (N = 480) visualized immigrants simultaneously associated with certain documentation statuses (documented or undocumented), economic circumstances (job or welfare), and nationalities (Mexican, Irish, Chinese, or Nigerian). The resulting images and evaluations by naïve samples (N = 345) highlighted that: 1) illegality is not always visually encoded as darker skin, 2) affective face expressions hint at racialized expectations of European vs. non-European immigrants’ societal positions in the U.S., and 3) disaggregation of a target category is critical for understanding the relationship between categorical and visual mental representations.

Analyzing Ethnocentric Immigration through the Case of Hungary – Demographic Effects of Immigration from Neighboring Countries to Hungary

Specific ethnocentric international migration processes can be observed in Hungary: a significant proportion of immigrants are of Hungarian ethnic background and come from neighboring countries. Similar processes can be observed between other kin-states and co-ethnic communities of Central and Eastern Europe, but this type of migration has not been studied intensively yet. The focus of the research is on the effects of this immigration on Hungarian society and the economy. Population projections were also carried out according to two research questions: “what would have happened if the immigrants had not arrived according to the processes that were experienced?” and “what will happen if the immigration process changes?” The research is based on the 2011 census data sets; the target group is the population born in neighboring countries that moved to Hungary after 1985. Results show that the ethnic Hungarian immigrant population has been a crucial human resource in Hungary. Without these immigrants, Hungary's demographic trends would also be less favorable. Moreover, in contrast to the situation typical of European immigrants, the socio-economic situation of the former is more favorable than of the host society. Potential decline of this immigration population could indeed be challenging.

Cruzando caminhos em Ibicaba: escravizados, imigrantes suíços e abolicionismo durante a Revolta dos Parceiros (São Paulo, 1856-1857)

<p>Este artigo explora as relações entre escravizados e imigrantes europeus no oeste paulista tendo, como pano de fundo, a Revolta dos Parceiros, ocorrida em Limeira no ano de 1856. Considerado um marco na história da imigração no Brasil, o levante de colonos suíços contra o sistema de parceria na Fazenda Ibicaba contava também com o apoio dos cativos que trabalhavam nos cafezais adjacentes à Colônia Senador Vergueiro e demais fazendas vizinhas. Apagada pela historiografia, a conspiração negra de 1856 revela que a convivência entre colonos e escravizados no contexto do fim do tráfico acelerou a circulação de ideias sobre o fim da escravidão no Brasil. Ao retornar à Revolta em Limeira, este artigo aborda o encontro de perspetivas subalternas sobre o abolicionismo atlântico em Ibicaba para afirmar a geopolítica negra como elemento constituinte dos significados do mundo do trabalho na década de 1850.</p><p>Crossing Paths at Ibicaba: Slaves, Swiss Immigrants, and Abolitionism during the Sharecroppers’ Revolt (São Paulo, 1856-1857)</p><p>This article examines the relations between the enslaved and European immigrants in western São Paulo against the background of the 1856 Sharecroppers’ Revolt that took place in Limeira. Considered a benchmark in the history of immigration in Brazil, the uprising of Swiss colonists against the “sistema de parceria” at the Ibicaba plantation also counted on support from enslaved populations in the vicinity of the Colônia Senador Vergueiro. Erased by the historiography, the 1856 black conspiracy shows that interactions between slaves and settlers in the context of the ban on the African slave trade sparked the circulation of abolitionist ideas in Brazil. By revisiting the revolt in Limeira, this paper explores how subaltern perspectives of the Atlantic world met in Ibicaba and claims a place for black geopolitics in defining Brazilian labor history in the 1850s.</p><p>Slavery | Colonization | Revolt | Abolitionism</p>

An Analysis of the Spanish-Language Landscape and Hispanic Identity in Hazleton, Pennsylvania (USA)

Linguistic landscapes refer broadly to the study of perceived or actual language use in a particular environment. Such an ever-changing landscape, metaphorical or not, can be most readily identified through the visible or audible presence of language, and this frequently occurs through the analysis of signs. The present study considers the small city of Hazleton, located at the southern edge of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Although it was recognized in the early and mid-nineteenth century as a refuge for Eastern European immigrants pursuing employment in the anthracite industry, Hazleton has garnered national attention in the last decade for its increasing Latino population, the overall reduction in monolingual English speakers, and the public reactions and legislation of local government officials. In particular, this study analyzes the types of signs found along the almost two-mile length of Wyoming Street, a street that intersects multiple neighborhoods commonly associated with the reification of Hispanidad. As such, we attempt here concurrently to determine the functions for which the Spanish language is employed publicly and also to consider the extent to which these signs reflect the identity of the Spanish-speaking community more broadly.

Eastern European immigrants in the UK

PurposeThe paper aims at examining wage developments among Eastern European immigrants vs UK natives before and after the 2004 enlargement by measuring the extent to which inter-group wage differentials are explainable by these groups' changing attributes or by differences in returns to these characteristics. The enlargement has been a defining moment in British recent history and may have contributed to the unfolding of the events that have culminated in Brexit.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a quantitative analysis of the immigrant–native wage gap across the entire distribution by applying the methodology known as the unconditional quantile regression. The analysis is performed before and after the 2004 European Union enlargement to Eastern countries. The data used is the British Labour Force Survey (UK LFS) from 1998 to 2008.FindingsAt all distribution points, a major role is played by occupational downgrading, which increases over time. The results further suggest that the decreased wage levels at the top of the distribution stem mainly from low transferability of skills acquired in the source country.Research limitations/implicationsThe UK LFS does not allow to follow individuals for a long period of time. For this reason, the main limitation of the study is the impossibility to measure for individual-level trajectories in their labour market integration and to account for return migration.Originality/valueThe analysis provides a detailed picture of the wage differences between Eastern European immigrants and natives along the whole wage distribution. The paper also identifies possible causes of the wage gap decrease for EU8 immigrant workers after 2008.

“East” in Europe—Health Dimension through the Lens of the UK Daily Mail and Statistical Facts

The study concerns the relationship between health and geopolitics in the United Kingdom (UK). To demonstrate this relationship, we examined the subject and tone of articles published in the popular media (on the example of tabloid the Daily Mail) in 2006–2020 concerning health and medical care, and the health and health care practice of Eastern European immigrants belonging to and not belonging to the European Union (EU). There was an increase in media criticism of the behaviour of immigrants in the years 2014–2017, in the period around the referendum in favour of the UK leaving the EU (Brexit). Attention was drawn to the media’s use of a Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) narrative at that time. On both sides, “hosts” and the “guests”, a progressive anomy process was observed, degrading the behaviour of individuals and social groups.

Presidential Address: Memories of Better Times before the Christians Came to Mexico and Guatemala

The author presented a draft of this essay as a presidential address at the 2012 meeting of the society in Springfield, Missouri. The theme of the meeting was “the apocalypse,” referring to a popular belief that the Mayan calendar predicted a cataclysmic event to occur in that year. The address proposed that the apocalypse had already occurred in the sixteenth century, when the Maya and many other Indigenous groups of the Americas were devastated by diseases brought by European immigrants. The author examined how the destruction was documented in Spanish surveys called the Relaciones geográficas, which were completed after a major epidemic devastated the Indigenous population of Mesoamerica. The author did not submit the paper for publication at the time. The current pandemic has lent some modest perspective to the many epidemic diseases that have swept through the Americas since the late fifteenth century. The author submitted this revised version of the original essay after editing the content, adding notes, and citing relevant works published since 2012.

The prevalence of migraine in Argentina: A reappraisal

Background Argentina has one of the largest territories in the world, which spreads over a lengthy latitudinal span. Its population is mainly composed of a mixture of South American natives and the descendants of numerous waves of European immigrants. Results from a previous study suggested that the prevalence of migraine in Argentina is the lowest in the region. Here we aimed to reassess the prevalence of migraine in Argentina applying a more sensitive and specific screening tool. Methods We conducted a random computer assisted telephonic interview (n= 2500) using the Migraine Screen Questionnaire to evaluate the prevalence of migraine and some of its features among Argentinian adults. Results The overall prevalence of migraine was 9.5% (14% in females and 5% in males). Estimated migraine prevalence rates ranged between 6.3% and 12% across different regions. The approximated prevalence of high frequency and chronic migraine were 1.9% and 1.5% of the total population respectively. Consumption of analgesics on 10 or more days per month was reported by 18% of migraine sufferers (≈1.7% of the population). Conclusions The prevalence of migraine in Argentina is higher than previously reported. Prevalence rates vary extensively across the territory. Specifically evaluating the determinants of these variations might be a promising avenue of research.