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Ethnic Newspaper Writers and the Transformation of US and CircumCaribbean Literature

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Racial and Ethnic Identities in the Media
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Abstract

This chapter analyzes the rise of ethnic topics and writers in US newspapers, and then concentrates on three important contributors in particular: the Greek/British Lafcadio Hearn, whose postings in New Orleans newspapers helped acquaint Southerners with the creole/black cultures of their city, and later, with the people of the Caribbean; Abraham Cahan, whose columns, stories, and editorials led to his appointment as the editor of New York’s Yiddish language Jewish Daily Forward; and Alexander Posey, a Creek Indian, whose comic columns for the Eufaula Indian Journal epitomized the energies of the nascent Native American press. All three writers celebrated unique cultures, criticized forces inimical to Creoles, Jews, and Native Americans in US society, and used humor as a subversive weapon and snare, as they set about capturing and captivating living-room audiences of readers as a crucial maneuver in Americanization.

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Correspondence to John Lowe .

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Lowe, J. (2016). Ethnic Newspaper Writers and the Transformation of US and CircumCaribbean Literature. In: Arapoglou, E., Kalogeras, Y., Nyman, J. (eds) Racial and Ethnic Identities in the Media. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56834-2_3

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