Presentation in Chicago, November 2010

»The Perils of Travel and Bureaucracy. South Slavic Migrants’ Media on Migration to the US«

Panel ›Hazards on the Road to America‹ at the ›35th Social Science History Association Meeting, »Power and Politics«‹, Chicago, November 18–21, 2010.

Abstract:

Migrants were following closely the conditions of migration to the US. This paper describes how the media of Austro-Hungarian Migrants in the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s covered the changing US immigration policies, anti-migrant actions of the authorities, and problems and disasters on the way. Another focus is which facilities the migrant media provided to foster migration, accommodation, employment and exchange with the ›old homeland‹. The paper is based on a discourse analysis of Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian newspapers in the US, also including media that were not directed at a specific ethnicity, most importantly the South-Slavic socialist press. Special attention will be given to discursive strategies in view of an American ›Public Opinion‹, and how migrant (elite) discourses position a migrant Subject vis-à-vis ›old homeland‹ public culture(s) and the American one(s). This research is part of a larger project that also includes archival material on migrant organization and individual lives. Thus, the presentation will be embedded in a rich cultural-historical context.