Ethnic Identity Conflict in the New Country

In twelve in-depth interviews, the author explores§the symbolic content of stories about World War II§recollected by the children of German immigrants in§the United States. The analysis focuses on a variety§of strategies employed by immigrant families when§dealing with a conflicting German identity and moral§emotions such as shame and guilt. The respondent pool§includes three opposite-sex sibling pairs to allow§for an interpretation of gender as influencing both§the transmission process and the content of the war§stories. The study further examines the narratives§within a complex context of variables such as§history, temporality, and family communication§patterns, hereby concentrating on intrafamilial taboo§topics. Similarities between the identity-protective§strategies of the respondents and their parents when§dealing with the German past and the coping§mechanisms of German generations in Germany become§apparent throughout the book. Thus, the project is§able to draw significant parallels to a large body of§research focusing on German§Vergangenheitsbewältigung while illuminating the§specific situation of German identity in the context§of American Diaspora.