Der Wanderer of St. Paul (New German-American Studies/Neue Deutsch-Amerikanische Studien) [Hardcover]

John S. Kulas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An immigrant newspaper provides unique documentation of an ethnic community in formation. Der Wanderer performed this role for Minnesota's growing German-Catholic population in the latter half of the nineteenth century. This look at the paper's first decade (1867-1877) analyzes its efforts to promote and preserve the Roman Catholic faith and German ethnic consciousness. Concurrently, its news reporting, political involvement, and adoption of the ways of the American press manifested an apparently contradictory Americanizing tendency. This tension between competing goals reflected a process taking place within the community itself.

As the press is a reliable mirror of its generation, each generation reveals its personality in the newspapers it produces. This eminently readable and impeccably researched book brings back to life the hopes and aspirations of German immigrants in the second half of the nineteenth century. This well-told story deserves the attention of historians and German scholars, as well as a general audience interested in the American heritage and German-American relationships. An eloquent and elegantly written story. Dr. Otmar Drekonja St. John's University, Collegeville, MN

Dr. Kulas has produced a superbly researched and expertly interpreted analysis of the assimilation role played by the German-American newspaper, Der Wanderer. Owned by laymen but published for Catholics, the organ performed brilliantly to integrate the Old World settler into his new environment while preserving values from the German ethnic heritage. By means of its prose, poetry, musical-theatrical reviews and instructional commentary, Der Wanderer taught mind and soul partly by maintaining contact with Europe and partly by aiding its readership to adapt to the American way of life. But Kulas' book is much more than the story of this 'friend' of the German Catholic immigrant. By its all-encompassing methodology, it tells the story of German Catholicism in Minnesota. No Minnesota or neighboring state library can pretend to serve its clientele without this book in its catalogue. La Vern J. Rippley Professor of German, St. Olaf College, MN and Editor, Society for German-American Studies

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820426776
• ISBN-13: 978-0820426778
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,716,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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