The Immigrant Experience in North American Literature ― Carving Out a Niche

Although many studies have been done of individual authors, at present few works exist which compare different immigrant literatures from the past and present. This work draws broad conclusions about the changes in American attitudes toward immigration and diverse cultures that are reflected in the literature. This book examines the representation of the immigrant experience in North American literature. Most of the chapters discuss the portrayal of particular ethnic groups by specific authors during a century of American and Canadian history. The introductory and concluding essays provide historical, cultural, and literary contexts for a comparative approach to the experiences of different ethnic groups.

KATHERINE B. PAYANT is Professor of English and Director of the Gender Studies Program and the Liberal Studies Program at Northern Michigan University. Her previous publications includeBecoming and Bonding: Contemporary Feminism and Popular Fiction by American Women Writers (Greenwood, 1993).

TOBY ROSE is Professor of English at Northern Michigan University, where she specializes in Caribbean Literature and Postcolonial Theory and Literature.