In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants
By (Author) Zempel
University of Minnesota Press
University of Minnesota Press
3rd January 1991
United States
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Biography: philosophy and social sciences
History of the Americas
Migration, immigration and emigration
973.043982
Physical Properties
Paperback
248
Width 149mm, Height 229mm, Spine 13mm
Description
Through translations of letters written to family and friends between 1870 and 1945, this book traces the stories of nine Norwegian immigrants. Farmer, fisherman, gold miner, politician, unmarried mother, housewife, businessman, railroad worker - their common bond was the experience of immigration and acculturation, but their individual experiences are manifested in a wide variety of forms. They came from vastly differing backgrounds in Norway to settle in the Midwest, on the West Coast, the East Coast and in Alaska, as well as Chicago and Brooklyn. The author has selected and translated letters rich in personal description and observation to present each writer's subjective view of historical events. Often focusing on the minutiae of daily life or the feelings of the individual immigrant, the letters are constructed from different voices, experiences, times, places, occupations, sexes and generations to form a complex and colourful mosaic of immigrant experience.
