The Promised Land is the 1912 autobiography of Mary Antin.[1] It tells the story of her early life in what is now Belarus and her immigration to the United States in 1894. The book focuses on her attempts to assimilate into the culture of the United States.[2] It received very positive reviews and sold more than 85,000 copies in the three decades after its release.[3] The book's popularity allowed Antin to begin speaking publicly, a platform that she used to promote acceptance of immigration to the United States. Some Americans hostile to immigration criticized The Promised Land, disagreeing with her claim to count as an American. Some Jewish writers criticized the book for leaning too assimilationist, arguing she did not sufficiently respect her heritage.[4]
 Title page of the first edition | |
| Author | Mary Antin |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
Publication date | 1912 |
| Publication place | United States |
Notes
edit- ^ Chametzky (2007, pp. 17, 20).
- ^ Brown (2004, p. 29).
- ^ Nadell, Pamela S. (23 June 2021), Mary Antin, Jewish Women's Archive
- ^ Chametzky (2007, pp. 17–18).
References
edit- Avery, Evelyn (2007). "Introduction". In Avery, Evelyn Gross (ed.). Modern Jewish Women Writers in America. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/9780230604841_1. ISBN 978-1-4039-7799-1.
- Brown, Linda Joyce (2004). The Literature of Immigration and Racial Formation: Becoming White, Becoming Other, Becoming American in the Late Progressive Era. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94931-9.
- Chametzky, Jules (2007). "Rethinking Mary Antin and The Promised Land". In Avery, Evelyn Gross (ed.). Modern Jewish Women Writers in America. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 17–28. doi:10.1057/9780230604841_2. ISBN 978-1-4039-7799-1.
External links
edit- The Promised Land by Mary Antin (1881-1949). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912 at A Celebration of Women Writers.