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Contrary to earlier studies dealing with the cultural identity development of diasporic minorities, this paper assesses the impact of homogeneity on intra-group cohesion and ethnic orientation. To this end, Oromo-Americans, an ethnic group originally located within the national borders of Ethiopia, will be compared to Armenian-Americans, British-Pakistanis and Somali-Americans. Despite different circumstances, all four groups share the experience of displacement owing to war and destitution. Additionally, all groups are confronted with the ramifications of a visible minority status. In the process of comparing these groups, their degrees of homogeneity in regard to language and religion - central aspects of culture and cultural identity - will be examined and juxtaposed at a macro level. Based on the correlative relationship of group homogeneity and social cohesion, I argue that the more homogeneous a group is in terms of language and religion, the more close-knit it will be. Consequently, exiled minorities who share the same language and religion are more likely to develop and retain a strong ethnic orientation than groups who are heterogeneous with regard to language and/or religion.
This MA thesis examines novels by Native American authors of the 20th century in regard to their representation of conflicts between the indigenous population of North America and the dominant Christian religion of the mainstream society. Several major points can be followed throughout the century, which have been presented repeatedly and discussed in various perspectives. Historical conflicts of colonization and Christianization, as well as the perpetual question of Native American Christians -- 'How can you go to a church that killed so many Indians?' [Alexie, Reservation Blues] -- are debated in these novels and analyzed in this paper. Furthermore, I have tried to position and classify the works according to their representation of these problems within literary history. Following Charles Larson's chronologic and thematic examination of American Indian Fiction, the categories rejection, (syncretic) adaptation, and postmodern-ironic revision are introduced to describe the various forms of representation. On the basis of five main examples, we can observe an evolution of contemporary Native American literature, which has liberated itself from the narrow definition of the 1960s and 1970s, in favor of a broader and more varied approach. In so doing, and by means of intercultural and intertextual referencing, postmodern irony, and a new Indian self-confidence, it has also taken a new position towards the religion of the former colonizer.