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Chapter 4
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128 q Chapter 4 Recollection,Reform,and“Broken Time”inWillaCather JamesWeldonJohnson’sintegrationismrelied onalogicsharedbyagreatdealofmelting-potwriting:heturnedtocultural activitiesofthepasttoconstructparametersforpresentculturalsyntheses. LikesomanyimmigrantautobiographersoftheProgressiveera,Johnson sawculturalsynthesisasentailingnottherepressionofpersonalandgroup histories,buttheirbroaderdissemination.Thebetterthatwhiteaudiences understood,andself-consciouslyadopted,theformaldevicesofthespirituals ,hislogicwent,thebetter(andmoreequitably)assimilationwouldwork. However,suchaviewwashardlyuniformlyagreedupon:inthecontextof immigration,forexample,Anglo-conformityAmericanizersdidimaginea near-totalsuppressionofdifferentculturalpracticesandlanguages;cultural pluralists,ontheotherhand,arguedthatcultural“inheritances”required moreactivepreservation.HoraceKallenframedhisfamousobjectionsto themeltingpotmostforcefullyintermsofthepast:heaccusedmeltingpot assimilation of aiming for “the complete cutting-off of the ancestral memoriesoftheAmericanpopulations”(CD,112).ThischapterusesWilla Cather’snovels,aswellaswritingsbyaclusterofothermelting-potthinkers, toconsiderthistopicofsignificantdisagreement. RatherthanfocusingonKallen’sdramaticaccusationof“completecuttingoff ,”however,IwillexplorethemeansbywhichProgressive-erathinkers attemptedtoimaginecombininghistoriesinanideallyinclusivemelting RECOLLECTION, REFORM, AND “BROKEN TIME” 129 pot.Whensettlementworkers,immigrantwriters,andevenW.E.B.Du Boisspokeofthecultural“gifts”contributedbyminoritypopulations,they emphasized the importance of (inJane Addams’s words) “respect for the achievementsofone’sfathers,thebringingtogetherofthepastwiththe present.”1 InthelastchapterIarguedthatJamesWeldonJohnson’spracticeof citationrepresentsonemeansbywhichpastcustomsandbeliefsmightbe takenupandintegratedintonewcontexts.WhenKallenobjectedtoculture conceivedofas“asortofindependentvariablewhichmightbeputonand laidofflikeagarment,”ratherthanasanunchanginginheritancesuchasrepresented byagrandfather,hespoketothedisrespect,evenviolence,thathesaw inthisinstrumentalrelationtothepast(CD,215).2 Aseventhisschematically sketcheddisagreementsuggests,consider ingwhether,andhow,personaland culturalpastsmightbeintegratedrequiresengagingwithavarietyofconceptions oftheverynatureofthepast.WillaCather’snovelsdidjustthat. InaseriesofspeakingengagementsinherhomestateofNebraskainfall 1921,Cathermadeherstanceonimmigrantheritagesclear:“TheAmericanization committeeworkerwhopersuadesanoldBohemianhousewife thatitisbetterforhertofeedherfamilyoutoftincansinsteadofcooking themasteaminggoosefordinneriscommittingacrimeagainstart.”3 The Omaha World-Heraldreported Cather’sremarksascondemning“theindiscriminate Americanizationworkofoverzealouspatriotswhoimplantinto theforeignmindsadistasteforalltheyhavebroughtofvaluefromtheirown country,”which“retardedartinAmerica.”4 Cather’swordsyokeimmigrant heritagesandAmericanartisticexpression:Anglo-conformistassimilation, byconceivingoftheUnitedStatesas(inHenryJames’smemorableformulation )“thetubofhotwater”thatstripsthedyefrom“apieceofbright-hued stuff,”consignsAmericanstoaculturalandintellectuallifeasif,inCather’s words,“outoftincans.”5 HerethetincansevokeJaneAddams’sfearoftoorigid forms.AccordingtoCather,sophisticatedandformallyflexibleartwill comeonlywhenAmericansembrace“all[thatforeignminds]havebrought ofvaluefromtheirowncountry.”Theargumenthereisnotsimplyaesthetic: itisdistinctlytemporal,havingtodowithhowtoimportheritagetoanew country(andacountryofthenew).Again,thetincanspointtoquestions ofpreservationandtransportation. Cather’sfictionsconstituteanextended aestheticresponsetothequestionsoftemporalityinvolvedinmelting-pot modelsofassimilation. Inthemelting-potmodel,theimmigrantpast—thatis,whatCatherterms “all[thatforeignminds]havebroughtofvaluefromtheirowncountry”— diffuses throughout American culture. As Robert Park’s Introduction to the ScienceofSociology(1921)definesassimilation,itis“aprocessofinterpenetration [3.90.242.249] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:31 GMT) 130 MELTING...