Between a rock and a hard place: Racist, xenophobic, and materialist 1920s America struggling for home and identity

Abstract

Immigration, urbanization, crime, racketeering, and bootlegging are only a few of the many crises that befell America in 1920s. These predicaments, however, were not without consequences. According to the novellas as well as the non-literary texts under discussion, immigration brought with it alien and anti-puritan (derived from Puritanism or more precisely “Reformed Protestantism.” See Humanitas (88)) values that went hand in hand with promiscuity, bacchanalia, fox-trotting, and jazz. Thus, antagonism toward foreigners (new-timers) by native-born Americans (old-timers) is expressed in various forms, particularly racism and xenophobia. In addition, foreigners are held responsible for boosting materialism and immorality in ways that shake the texture of the social order and the foundations of the American family and hence the American identity. Therefore, materialism and mass production are also denounced for making the annihilation of these entities possible by the competitive ambiance they create, the ruthlessness they entail, and the brainwashing of the masses they practice. The writers’ prejudice is sometimes ambivalent. Covert or overt, it is conveyed by their protagonists and by their extra-literary utterances. Although they censure foreigners, the authors also criticize Americans who renounce their ideals and values for the sake of gold, being enslaved to capitalism, turning into nodding sycophants, mere puppets.

Keywords

• foreignness
• racism
• xenophobia
• materialism
• capitalism
• america
• identity