Akulturacija hrvatskih iseljenika u život obećane zemlje u periodu od 1880-ih do 1930-ih

This paper dealt with the process of acculturation on the example of the massive immigration of Croats to the United States from the 1880s to 1930s. I analyze several representative fictional and non-fictional texts by and about Croats in the USA which illustrate some features of accommodating to a new society. Ante Tresić Pavičić’s travelogue was both a report for the Croatians back home, as well as a warning and a reminder for the Croatians in America. The aim of his work was to make a connection between America and home. He wanted to remind Croatian communities in the States where they were coming from, and wanted to warn them against losing their identity, because he saw that they were not really fighting to preserve it. Anglicizing of their last names was the first step towards alienation. We could see that in Louis Adamic’s story about Manda Evanich, as her husband changed his last name due to misunderstanding with his boss. Manda Evanich is an example of a woman that did not give up on her language and the customs that she had brought from her homeland, but she was unable to instill the love for Croatia into the hearts of her children or her grandchildren to the extent that she felt it. Since most of her children were born in America and by that they were immediately American citizens, there was not much that she could do about it. Their home was the place they were born in, so they lived their lives according to the rules of the country they were in, became a part of its political, economic and social systems. Even though Manda had great love for Croatia, she respected her new country, obeyed the rules, spoke well of its politicians, and believed that they were guiding her new country the right way. Her sons married women of mostly different nationalities, which resulted in the fact that the third generation did not speak Croatian, and most of them did not even know where exactly that country is that their grandmother came from a long time ago. As for Gabro Karabin’s character, he wanted to look for something better for himself, because he knew that he did not have to be defined by his origin and consent to a job that was made of hard work just because his brother and father did so. His escape from those patterns was painful for his family, but he managed to do it without forgetting where he came from.