From “Paddies” to “Spics”: The Comparison between the Contemporary Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric in American Media and the Anti-Irish one in the 19th Century
Journal Title: New Horizons in English Studies - Year 2017, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
The animated debate surrounding an apparent migrant problem of the Western world, manifesting itself in either the immigration crisis in Europe or the progressing tendencies to isolationism both in Europe and in the United States of America, provides a good case to investigate the media representation of immigrants in the American context. The sometimes biased portrayal of immigrant communities in the contemporary American media, especially those with right-wing inclination, has been given a higher profile in the U.S. public discourse and bears a striking resemblance to the anti-Irish sentiment and press coverage that dominated in the U.S. in the 19th century. It is in the purview of the following paper to examine the media rhetoric and representation strategies that were used at that time and that are harnessed currently. The idea warrants discussion since the United States also prides itself for its multicultural and multiethnic heritage, which proves to highlight the polarized public opinion. In the author’s estimation, the anti-immigrant attitudes are a recurring theme in the American culture and have always divided the public.
Authors and Affiliations
Małgorzata Furgacz
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP421789
- DOI 10.17951/nh.2017.2.100
- Views 71
- Downloads 0
Beyond the Convention? Representation of Female Characters in Middle English Romances
The paper presents literary images of medieval women in four Middle English romances, viz. King Horn, Sir Isumbras, Havelok the Dane and Sir Gawain and the Green Night. Its aim is to identify some conventional patterns o...
Metafiction in Children’s Literature and its Adaptation on Screen. The Case of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
The paper analyzes metafictional aspects of the children’s book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket as adapted in a 2017 TV series. Focusing on the metaleptic narrator and the receiver’s role in the s...
Why Money Cannot Buy Happiness. The Painful Truth about Traditional Proverbs and Their Modifications
Can one imagine language without proverbs? Do we really need these somewhat clichéd adages like An apple a day keeps a doctor away, Once bitten, twice shy, or Crime doesn’t pay? Are they still influential, or perhaps mod...
Online Adaptation of Word-initial Ukrainian CC Consonant Clusters by Native Speakers of English
The phenomenon of loanword adaptation occupies a prominent position in modern phonological literature. The present paper introduces the major theories which deal with this phenomenon as well as presenting the author’s ex...
The Crying of Lot 49 and the Parody of Detective Fiction
The Crying of Lot 49, recognized as an important example of postmodern fiction, is a novella by an American author Thomas Pynchon. It follows the story of Oedipa Maas, who encounters a possible underground conspiracy rel...