51 / 2020

Leonora Flis

Social Engagement and Multiculturalism in Louis Adamic’s Literary Journalism and Documentary Prose

The article focuses on those texts by Louis Adamic that, by employing the principles of literary journalism, create an authentic discourse (which is simultaneously subjective and documentary) for the description of both current and past events, and successfully place Adamic alongside more recognizable names in the field of literary journalism. The article also explains the characteristics of literary journalism and identifies the traits of this genre in those of Adamic’s works that involve a multi­culturalist criticism of the homogenizing impact of dominant cultures and reveal a powerful social agenda (Dynamite, Laughing in the Jungle, My America, The Native’s Return, and A Nation of Nations).
KEY WORDS: Louis Adamic, literary journalism, multiculturalism, social engagement, migration

51 / 2020

Leonora Flis

Social Engagement and Multiculturalism in Louis Adamic’s Literary Journalism and Documentary Prose

The article focuses on those texts by Louis Adamic that, by employing the principles of literary journalism, create an authentic discourse (which is simultaneously subjective and documentary) for the description of both current and past events, and successfully place Adamic alongside more recognizable names in the field of literary journalism. The article also explains the characteristics of literary journalism and identifies the traits of this genre in those of Adamic’s works that involve a multi­culturalist criticism of the homogenizing impact of dominant cultures and reveal a powerful social agenda (Dynamite, Laughing in the Jungle, My America, The Native’s Return, and A Nation of Nations).
KEY WORDS: Louis Adamic, literary journalism, multiculturalism, social engagement, migration

51 / 2020

John Paul Enyeart

Trieste and Louis Adamic’s Transnational Identities

By examining Slovene immigrant to the United States and world-renowned author Louis Adamic’s effort to mediate between his Yugoslav and American identities, this article helps us to think what having a transnational identity means. By focusing on Adamic’s writings about Trieste and Italy in general, the article shows how he transitioned from being a disaporic leader during World War II to an anti-colonialist from 1946–1951. Examining Adamic’s activist stances regarding Trieste helps us to think about transnationalism beyond a single cross-border movement or an individual’s identity claim at a specific moment. Adamic’s effort to convince the U.S. government that Yugoslavia should control Trieste allows us to see how transnationalism operated as an identity in flux.
KEY WORDS: Adamic, diaspora, anti-Colonialism, Tito, transnational activism

51 / 2020

John Paul Enyeart

Trieste and Louis Adamic’s Transnational Identities

By examining Slovene immigrant to the United States and world-renowned author Louis Adamic’s effort to mediate between his Yugoslav and American identities, this article helps us to think what having a transnational identity means. By focusing on Adamic’s writings about Trieste and Italy in general, the article shows how he transitioned from being a disaporic leader during World War II to an anti-colonialist from 1946–1951. Examining Adamic’s activist stances regarding Trieste helps us to think about transnationalism beyond a single cross-border movement or an individual’s identity claim at a specific moment. Adamic’s effort to convince the U.S. government that Yugoslavia should control Trieste allows us to see how transnationalism operated as an identity in flux.
KEY WORDS: Adamic, diaspora, anti-Colonialism, Tito, transnational activism

51 / 2020

Ksenija Šabec

Representations of Native Americans in Adamic’s Writing on (New) Immigrants

This article presents an overview of the attention Louis Adamic dedicated to Native Americans in various written works and public engagements and compares it with his writing on new immigrants in the light of his understanding of the importance of the preservation of immigrants’ identity and issues of integration and nation-building as they relate to American identity. The article also explores the views on intercultural and interethnic relationships in the United States that Adamic drew on in his treatment of Native Americans. Three works in particular will be analyzed: My America (1938), From Many Lands (1940), and A Nation of Nations (1945). The main finding is that Adamic does not deal as extensively with issues related to indigenous Americans as he does with those related to European immigrants. Nevertheless, Adamic does not completely neglect “the Indian story”. In some of his works, most extensively in A Nation of Nations, he specifically compares this story to the (problematic) position of African Americans in an American space that was colonized either “by sword or by book”.
KEY WORDS: Louis Adamic, Native Americans, immigrants, United States, interculturality

51 / 2020

Ksenija Šabec

Representations of Native Americans in Adamic’s Writing on (New) Immigrants

This article presents an overview of the attention Louis Adamic dedicated to Native Americans in various written works and public engagements and compares it with his writing on new immigrants in the light of his understanding of the importance of the preservation of immigrants’ identity and issues of integration and nation-building as they relate to American identity. The article also explores the views on intercultural and interethnic relationships in the United States that Adamic drew on in his treatment of Native Americans. Three works in particular will be analyzed: My America (1938), From Many Lands (1940), and A Nation of Nations (1945). The main finding is that Adamic does not deal as extensively with issues related to indigenous Americans as he does with those related to European immigrants. Nevertheless, Adamic does not completely neglect “the Indian story”. In some of his works, most extensively in A Nation of Nations, he specifically compares this story to the (problematic) position of African Americans in an American space that was colonized either “by sword or by book”.
KEY WORDS: Louis Adamic, Native Americans, immigrants, United States, interculturality

51 / 2020

Janja Žitnik Serafin

The Relevance of Louis Adamic for the 21st Century

The article first outlines the literature on Louis Adamic (1898–1951), the most successful writer of the Slovenian diaspora. The author then highlights Adamic’s prescience in a number of works dedicated to his original homeland. This is followed by a discussion of Adamic’s views on the mid-20th century global situation and the prospects for its development, which include some of the most pressing social issues in the world today. The author employs the overview method by supplementing her current research results with other scholars’ findings.
KEY WORDS: Louis Adamic, American literature, Slovenian emigrant’s literature, history of the 20th century

51 / 2020

Janja Žitnik Serafin

The Relevance of Louis Adamic for the 21st Century

The article first outlines the literature on Louis Adamic (1898–1951), the most successful writer of the Slovenian diaspora. The author then highlights Adamic’s prescience in a number of works dedicated to his original homeland. This is followed by a discussion of Adamic’s views on the mid-20th century global situation and the prospects for its development, which include some of the most pressing social issues in the world today. The author employs the overview method by supplementing her current research results with other scholars’ findings.
KEY WORDS: Louis Adamic, American literature, Slovenian emigrant’s literature, history of the 20th century

50 / 2019

Gaziza Tolesh

Book Review - Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear Oakland, California, University California Press, 2018

The purpose of this book, according to the author, is to provide general readers, students, and activists with a comprehensible introduction to Islamophobia. With this publication, Beydoun attempts to shed light on the phenomenon which has an international cluster of terms and phrases that include “anti-Muslim prejudice”, “anti-Muslim bigotry”, “intolerance against Muslims”, “demonization of Islam”, and “Muslimophobia”. As a Muslim American law professor and a civil right activist, the writer hopes to give his readers a different perspective on Islamophobia. He bases his speculations on the chronological explanations of attitudes of American people due to certain events; discusses various court cases on granting American citizenship to Muslims; and discusses newspaper and TV news headlines as well as his own life experience. Last but not least, the author attempts to connect the old system of intolerance against Muslims to current policies and rival ideologies.

50 / 2019

Gaziza Tolesh

Book Review - Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear Oakland, California, University California Press, 2018

The purpose of this book, according to the author, is to provide general readers, students, and activists with a comprehensible introduction to Islamophobia. With this publication, Beydoun attempts to shed light on the phenomenon which has an international cluster of terms and phrases that include “anti-Muslim prejudice”, “anti-Muslim bigotry”, “intolerance against Muslims”, “demonization of Islam”, and “Muslimophobia”. As a Muslim American law professor and a civil right activist, the writer hopes to give his readers a different perspective on Islamophobia. He bases his speculations on the chronological explanations of attitudes of American people due to certain events; discusses various court cases on granting American citizenship to Muslims; and discusses newspaper and TV news headlines as well as his own life experience. Last but not least, the author attempts to connect the old system of intolerance against Muslims to current policies and rival ideologies.