Mary antin, american author remembered for her autobiographical work the promised land and other books on immigrant life in the united states. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Mary antin recounts the process of uprooting, transportation, replanting, acclimitization, and development that took place in my own soul, and reveals the impact of a new. Weaving introspection with political commentary, biography with history, the promised land, first published in 1912, brings to life the transformation of an eastern european jewish immigrant into an american citizen. I bought the promised land because some my ancestors came from poland and russia and settled in chelsea ma at around the same time. This is an autobiographical study of the immigrant, of what he brings to america, and what he finds here, and in it the author presents the case of the russian jews american citizenship in a new and vivid light. Promised land lgbtq themed childrens book promised. Index mary antin 18811949 mary antin 18811949 identity theories instrumentalist theory. Mary antins the promised land constraints of women in the.
The book focuses on her attempts to assimilate into the culture of the united. About us promised land lgbtq themed childrens book. I was in that period when even normal children, undisturbed in their customary environment, begin to explore their own. For order information and wholesale availability, please contact. When mary antins father decided that keeping to his traditions did not suit him anymore, he found no place in. The promised land is mary antin s mature autobiography. Mary antin 18811949 promised land, the, by mary antin 1912. Much of mortonsterns book revolves around her relationship with her. Mary antin was born in june of 1881 in polotzk, white russia what is now belarus.
Only 30 years old when she published her autobiography, the promised land, mary antin captured the dreams and experiences of turnofthecentury russian jewish immigrants. Her critically acclaimed autobiography, published in 1912, was the bestknown immigrant memoir of its day. Life was not easy, though as a child, mary describes life in boston as almost perfect. The book focuses on her attempts to assimilate into the culture of the united states. Eva hoffman revises mary antin the tongue am i of those who lived before me, as those that are to come will be the voice of my unspoken thoughts,1 proclaims mary antin, in an adopted tongue, english, that supplanted the yiddish of her childhood in polotzk. Russia was the place where ones father went on business. She is best known for her 1912 autobiography the promised land. All the little girls i knew lived in polotzk, with their fathers and mothers and friends. And roosevelt revealed his own debt to their friendship when he wrote that he became a zealous supporter of woman suffrage precisely because of his association with women like mary antin.
Yet, according to the few critics who have written on jewish immigrant mary antins work, the meaning. In 1899, antins first book, from plotzk sic to boston, was published. The promised land by mary antin was published 1912, and it narrates the story of a jewish family immigrating from russia to the united states in fact it is the autobiography of antin, she put it in this way. Questia read the fulltext online edition of the promised land 1912. Ebscohost serves thousands of libraries with premium essays, articles and other content including assimilation in the promised land. The project gutenberg ebook of the promised land, by mary. Jeremy benstein is an educator, author, and hebrew lover. His previous books include their promised land, year zero, the china lover, murder in amsterdam, occidentalism, gods dust, behind the mask, the wages of guilt, bad elements, and taming the gods.
Antin s description and stories of life in polotzk makes it easy for me to imagine what it might have been like for my family as well. The promised land by mary antin illustrated the promised land is the 1912. From the first half of the book, as a young girl in the settlements of the russian. In her book the promised land published in 1912 mary antin uses the term. Summary this is an autobiographical account of how john parker risked his life to escape from slavery, and then became a fervent abolitionist, working on a border railroad where hundreds of runaway slaves were helped to freedom. The promised land autobiography by mary antin the book, the promised land, is an autobiography written by mary antin which describes her gettingusedto the american culture. The promised land is mary antins mature autobiography. The promised land by mary antin in chm, djvu, fb2 download ebook.
That is, antin also wrote this novel for the jewish reader as a means of critiquing the religious. An extraordinary popular success when it was first. Mary antin was an american author and immigration rights activist. The promised land was a bestseller when it was first published in 1912. The family moved from chelsea to ward 8 in bostons south end, a notorious slum, as the venue of israels store changed. The promised land by mary antin this free downloadable ebook can be read on your computer or ereader. The books popularity allowed antin to begin speaking publicly, a platform that she used to promote acceptance of immigration to the united states.
If you would put your mind on it, and study hard, like mary antin, you would also stand. With the appearance of this book, mary, eighteen at the time, was hailed as a child prodigy. Antin immigrated to the united states with her mother, sisters, and brother in 1894, joining her father, who had preceded them in 1891, in massachusetts. May antin came to the united states from russia in the 1890s when she was a young girl.
Her first book, describing her voyage from russia to the united states, was published in 1899. The promised land by mary antin goodreads share book. Bibliography includes bibliographical references p. The purpose of this study is the vision of mary antins example of discrimination and oppression against the jewish people. Mary antin 18811949 was born in polotsk, russia to a jewish family and emigrated to the united states settling in boston when she was only thirteen. Promised land is the fourth spenser novel by robert b. The promised land illustrated by mary antin nook book. I was born, i have lived, and i have been made over. The promised land by mary antin, 1912 online research. This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work. Inthe promised land, mary antin tells of moving from polotzk, russia, to boston, massachusetts, when she was around thirteen years old. The extract below is from her book the promised land. The promised land by mary antin was published 1912, and it narrates the story of a. Self and other in mary antins the promised land mary antins autobiography, the promised land 1912, remains a peculiarly ambivalent work concerning the ambiguous ways in which the immigrant becomes americanized.
Having made such good time across the ocean, i ought to be able to proceed no less rapidly on terra firma, where, after all, i am more at home. Heath anthology of american literaturemary antin author page. It tells the story of her early life in what is now belarus and her immigration to the united states in 1894. Mary antin recounts the process of uprooting, transportation, replanting, acclimatization, and development that took place in her own soul and reveals the impact of a new.
The books popularity allowed antin to begin speaking publicly, a platform that. She compares the life in the eastern europe to that in usa which she calls the new world and admires the new world for its vast opportunities, freedom and the. When you listen to bridget reading this wonderful book, you can almost feel mary antins trials and joys. It was also criticized by some jews, who felt that she was disrespectful towards her jewish heritage. Related to political movements or attitudes to achieve things. American author and immigration rights activist mary antin 18811949 arrived in the united states at the age of 12 with a family fleeing the pogroms of czarist russia. Jewish autobiography, and i will then offer a reading and comparison of four. In 1918, she withdraws from public life due to a disease, and on the 15th of may. It was criticized by antiimmigration activists, who did not see antin as an american.
This book contains 15 or more unique illustrations relevant to its content this is an autobiography of mary antin who, as a girl, left eastern europe in the search of freedom and opportunities and went to the united states. So the jews found comfort in their ancient traditions. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. The promised land is the autobiography of mary antin. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content michael p. Promised land, which is an autobiographical account. Mary antin recounts the process of uprooting, transportation. It won the edgar award for best novel in 1977 plot summary. My promised land is a controversial, thought provoking and important read for those wanting to understand the middle east from an israeli perspective the well known israeli journalist, ari shavit, weaves a delicate story of the ever changing doctrine of zionism from its utopian nonsectarian, communist vision of the early 1900s to its current identity of selfpreservation.
Review of mary antins the promised land appears in the. The promised land is the 1912 autobiography of mary antin. The promised land by mary antin teaching resources. The promised land, mary antin account of formerly affluent authors first year in the u. When i was a little girl, the world was divided into two parts. Much of the story centers around miss astins love for free american. That i who was brought up to my teens almost without a book should be set down in the midst of all the books. As a child, she lived in the russian pale, the part of russia. The promised land by mary antin free at loyal books. Lindsay kleiman although mary antin wrote the promised land in 1912 with the ostensible intention of shedding light on the jewishamerican immigrant experience for a nonjewish audience, one can see through close readings that this autobiography was also written to serve a secondary purpose. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content steven g.
Top american libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. The promised land by mary antin, 1912 online research library. From 19 to 1918, antin traveled throughout the united states, lecturing, often to jewish organizations, on the themes set forth in the promised land. Jews within the empire were required to live in this area that stretched from the baltic sea to the black sea and encompassed portions of the presentday states of poland, lithuania, belarus, ukraine and moldova. A smart and dignified girl, mary takes the good things in anything and writes her autobiography with a smile. I love history and actually trace my passion for the past to my high school. The notion of identity in mary antins the promised land.
In this story, mary antin is talking on behalf all the jewish women who being oppressed by jewish. Mary antin and the jewish origins of the american self many jews will never see the promised land. Interweaving introspection with political commentaries, biography with history, the promised land 1912 brings to life the transformation of an east european jewish immigrant into an american citizen. I n 1894 mary antin was a thirteenyearold jewish girl living with her family in the jewish pale of the russian empire. In it, she speaks of the story of what she believes is her escape from bondage in eastern europe and her finding of freedom in america. Initially, antin gives the reader a broad scope of how she sees life in polotzk and how she slowly begins to realize that she and those living outside of russia are different from the russians. The promised land mary antin audiobook and ebook all. Like i was at a most impressionable age when i was transplanted to the new soil.
Mobi files can be read on kindles, epub files can be read on other ebook readers, and zip files can be downloaded and read on your computer. In the autobiography of mary antin, the promised land, she automatically describes her childhood memories of how she became aware of her situation and of all those living in belarus. She emigrated from polotzk to boston with her family in 1894, when she was thirteen. In it, she tells the story of what she considers her escape from bondage in eastern europe and her finding of freedom in america.
881 1268 1272 882 378 775 539 1194 611 466 1488 1167 857 1266 840 1233 1211 987 222 437 237 1388 652 241 1461 1085 288 1531 1535 460 400 34 935 1265 771 646 257 356 389