Melting-Pot Modernism

Chapter 4

128 q Chapter 4 Recollection,฀Reform,฀and฀“Broken฀฀ Time”฀in฀Willa฀Cather James฀Weldon฀Johnson’s฀integrationism฀relied฀ on฀a฀logic฀shared฀by฀a฀great฀deal฀of฀melting-pot฀writing:฀he฀turned฀to฀cultural฀ activities฀of฀the฀past฀to฀construct฀parameters฀for฀present฀cultural฀syntheses.฀ Like฀so฀many฀immigrant฀autobiographers฀of฀the฀Progressive฀era,฀Johnson฀ saw฀cultural฀synthesis฀as฀entailing฀not฀the฀repression฀of฀personal฀and฀group฀ histories,฀but฀their฀broader฀dissemination.฀The฀better฀that฀white฀audiences฀ understood,฀and฀self-consciously฀adopted,฀the฀formal฀devices฀of฀the฀spirituals ,฀his฀logic฀went,฀the฀better฀(and฀more฀equitably)฀assimilation฀would฀work.฀ However,฀such฀a฀view฀was฀hardly฀uniformly฀agreed฀upon:฀in฀the฀context฀of฀ immigration,฀for฀example,฀Anglo-conformity฀Americanizers฀did฀imagine฀a฀ near-total฀suppression฀of฀different฀cultural฀practices฀and฀languages;฀cultural฀ pluralists,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀argued฀that฀cultural฀“inheritances”฀required฀ more฀active฀preservation.฀Horace฀Kallen฀framed฀his฀famous฀objections฀to฀ the฀melting฀pot฀most฀forcefully฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀past:฀he฀accused฀meltingpot ฀ assimilation฀ of฀ aiming฀ for฀ “the฀ complete฀ cutting-off฀ of฀ the฀ ancestral฀ memories฀of฀the฀American฀populations”฀(CD,฀112).฀This฀chapter฀uses฀Willa฀ Cather’s฀novels,฀as฀well฀as฀writings฀by฀a฀cluster฀of฀other฀melting-pot฀thinkers,฀ to฀consider฀this฀topic฀of฀significant฀disagreement. Rather฀than฀focusing฀on฀Kallen’s฀dramatic฀accusation฀of฀“complete฀cuttingoff ,”฀however,฀I฀will฀explore฀the฀means฀by฀which฀Progressive-era฀thinkers฀ attempted฀to฀imagine฀combining฀histories฀in฀an฀ideally฀inclusive฀melting฀ RECOLLECTION, REFORM, AND “BROKEN TIME” 129 pot.฀When฀settlement฀workers,฀immigrant฀writers,฀and฀even฀W.฀E.฀B.฀Du฀ ฀ Bois฀spoke฀of฀the฀cultural฀“gifts”฀contributed฀by฀minority฀populations,฀they฀ emphasized฀ the฀ importance฀ of฀ (in฀Jane฀ Addams’s฀ words)฀ “respect฀ for฀ the฀ achievements฀of฀one’s฀fathers,฀the฀bringing฀together฀of฀the฀past฀with฀the฀ ฀ present.”1 ฀In฀the฀last฀chapter฀I฀argued฀that฀James฀Weldon฀Johnson’s฀practice฀of฀ citation฀represents฀one฀means฀by฀which฀past฀customs฀and฀beliefs฀might฀be฀ taken฀up฀and฀integrated฀into฀new฀contexts.฀When฀Kallen฀objected฀to฀culture฀ conceived฀of฀as฀“a฀sort฀of฀independent฀variable฀which฀might฀be฀put฀on฀and฀ laid฀off฀like฀a฀garment,”฀rather฀than฀as฀an฀unchanging฀inheritance฀such฀as฀represented ฀by฀a฀grandfather,฀he฀spoke฀to฀the฀disrespect,฀even฀violence,฀that฀he฀saw฀ in฀this฀instrumental฀relation฀to฀the฀past฀(CD,฀215).2 ฀As฀even฀this฀schematically฀ sketched฀disagreement฀suggests,฀consider฀ ing฀whether,฀and฀how,฀personal฀and฀ cultural฀pasts฀might฀be฀integrated฀requires฀engaging฀with฀a฀variety฀of฀conceptions ฀of฀the฀very฀nature฀of฀the฀past.฀Willa฀Cather’s฀novels฀did฀just฀that. In฀a฀series฀of฀speaking฀engagements฀in฀her฀home฀state฀of฀Nebraska฀in฀fall฀ 1921,฀Cather฀made฀her฀stance฀on฀immigrant฀heritages฀clear:฀“The฀Americanization ฀committee฀worker฀who฀persuades฀an฀old฀Bohemian฀housewife฀ that฀it฀is฀better฀for฀her฀to฀feed฀her฀family฀out฀of฀tin฀cans฀instead฀of฀cooking฀ them฀a฀steaming฀goose฀for฀dinner฀is฀committing฀a฀crime฀against฀art.”3 ฀The฀ Omaha฀ World-Herald฀reported฀ Cather’s฀remarks฀as฀condemning฀“the฀indiscriminate ฀Americanization฀work฀of฀overzealous฀patriots฀who฀implant฀into฀ the฀foreign฀minds฀a฀distaste฀for฀all฀they฀have฀brought฀of฀value฀from฀their฀own฀ country,”฀which฀“retarded฀art฀in฀America.”4 ฀Cather’s฀words฀yoke฀immigrant฀ heritages฀and฀American฀artistic฀expression:฀Anglo-conformist฀assimilation,฀ by฀conceiving฀of฀the฀United฀States฀as฀(in฀Henry฀James’s฀memorable฀formulation )฀“the฀tub฀of฀hot฀water”฀that฀strips฀the฀dye฀from฀“a฀piece฀of฀bright-hued฀ stuff,”฀consigns฀Americans฀to฀a฀cultural฀and฀intellectual฀life฀as฀if,฀in฀Cather’s฀ words,฀“out฀of฀tin฀cans.”5 ฀Here฀the฀tin฀cans฀evoke฀Jane฀Addams’s฀fear฀of฀toorigid ฀forms.฀According฀to฀Cather,฀sophisticated฀and฀formally฀flexible฀art฀will฀ come฀only฀when฀Americans฀embrace฀“all฀[that฀foreign฀minds]฀have฀brought฀ of฀value฀from฀their฀own฀country.”฀The฀argument฀here฀is฀not฀simply฀aesthetic:฀ it฀is฀distinctly฀temporal,฀having฀to฀do฀with฀how฀to฀import฀heritage฀to฀a฀new฀ country฀(and฀a฀country฀of฀the฀new).฀Again,฀the฀tin฀cans฀point฀to฀questions฀ of฀preservation฀and฀transportation.฀ Cather’s฀fictions฀constitute฀an฀extended฀ aesthetic฀response฀to฀the฀questions฀of฀temporality฀involved฀in฀melting-pot฀ models฀of฀assimilation. In฀the฀melting-pot฀model,฀the฀immigrant฀past—that฀is,฀what฀Cather฀terms฀ “all฀[that฀foreign฀minds]฀have฀brought฀of฀value฀from฀their฀own฀country”— diffuses฀ throughout฀ American฀ culture.฀ As฀ Robert฀ Park’s฀ Introduction฀ to฀ the฀ ฀ Science฀of฀Sociology฀(1921)฀defines฀assimilation,฀it฀is฀“a฀process฀of฀interpenetration฀ ฀ 130 MELTING...