Multilingual America
Multilingual America

Author: Werner Sollors

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 1998-08

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 9780814780930

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Aside from the occasional controversy over "Official English" campaigns, language remains the blind spot in the debate over multiculturalism. Considering its status as a nation of non-English speaking aborigines and of immigrants with many languages, America exhibits a curious tunnel vision about cultural and literary forms that are not in English. How then have non-English speaking Americans written about their experiences in this country? And what can we learn-about America, immigration and ethnicity-from them? Arguing that multilingualism is perhaps the most important form of diversity, Multilingual America calls attention to-and seeks to correct-the linguistic parochialism that has defined American literary study. By bringing together essays on important works by, among others, Yiddish, Chinese American, German American, Italian American, Norwegian American, and Spanish American writers, Werner Sollors here presents a fuller view of multilingualism as a historical phenomenon and as an ongoing way of life. At a time when we are just beginning to understand the profound effects of language acquisition on the development of the brain, Multilingual America forces us to broaden what in fact constitutes American literature.

Friedrichsburg
Friedrichsburg

Author: Friedrich Armand Strubberg

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2012-05-01

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 0292737696

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Founded in 1846, Fredericksburg, Texas, was established by German noblemen who enticed thousands of their compatriots to flee their overcrowded homeland with the prospect of free land in a place that was portrayed as a new Garden of Eden. Few of the settlers, however, were prepared for the harsh realities of the Texas frontier or for confrontation with the Comanche Indians. In his 1867 novel Friedrichsburg, Friedrich Armand Strubberg, a.k.a. Dr. Schubbert, interwove his personal story with a fictional romance to capture the flavor of Fredericksburg, Texas, during its founding years when he served as the first colonial director. Now available in a contemporary translation, Friedrichsburg brings to life the little-known aspects of life among these determined but often ill-equipped settlers who sought to make the transition to a new home and community on the Texas frontier. Opening just as a peace treaty is being negotiated between the German newcomers and the Comanches, the novel describes the unlikely survival of these fledgling homesteads and provides evidence that support from the Delaware Indians, as well as the nearby Mormon community of Zodiac, was key to the Germans’ success. Along the way, Strubberg also depicts the laying of the cornerstone to the Vereinskirche, the blazing of an important new road to Austin, exciting hunting scenes, and an admirable spirit of cultural cohesion and determined resilience. In so doing, he resurrects a fascinating lost world.

Translation and Identity in the Americas
Translation and Identity in the Americas

Author: Edwin Gentzler

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1136036865

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Translation is a highly contested site in the Americas where different groups, often with competing literary or political interests, vie for space and approval. In its survey of these multiple and competing groups and its study of the geographic, socio-political and cultural aspects of translation, Edwin Gentzler’s book demonstrates that the Americas are a fruitful terrain for the field of translation studies. Building on research from a variety of disciplines including cultural studies, linguistics, feminism and ethnic studies and including case studies from Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean, this book shows that translation is one of the primary means by which a culture is constructed: translation in the Americas is less something that happens between separate and distinct cultures and more something that is capable of establishing those very cultures. Using a variety of texts and addressing minority and oppressed groups within cultures, Translation and Identity in the Americas highlights by example the cultural role translation policies play in a discriminatory process: the consequences of which can be social marginalization, loss of identity and psychological trauma. Translation and Identity the Americas will be critical reading for students and scholars of Translation Studies, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies.