Volume 27, Number 13 · August 14, 1980
The Uprooted
By Neal Ascherson
Unsettling Europe
by Jane Kramer
Random House, 217 pp., $9.95
Jane Kramer is right to say that 'Europe plays with identity.' She is talking about the sense of nationality and the claim to belong to a community, notions which certainly suffer 'elegant manipulations.' But some of these identity games are merciful, designed to save pride. It has for instance always been held shameful to be obliged to emigrate, even when irresistible forces like starvation, merciless landlordism, the devastations of war or racial persecution drive a family to pack and leave its land, its hovel, the graves of its ancestors. The pain with which the Scottish Highlanders, the Jews of the Russian Empire, the landless Slovaks, or the Irish looked back from the rail of the ships as they raised anchor wasn't only the pain of homesickness or the fear of what a new land might do to their children. For many this was defeat, even a sort of treachery. And in order to cover this shame, Europe invented a game called 'America.'
Review, 2732 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |