Hawked by vendors in the streets of Denmark or sold door-to-door by salesmen, popular street ballads reported disasters at sea, lamented the anguish of separated lovers, and told of the promise of a new land, America. Authors Rochelle Wright and Robert L. Wright have collected 116 street ballads and songs from oral tradition (a majority of which have never been published before) that pertain to the Danish emigration experience: conditions and events in Denmark that triggered emigration; prevailing attitudes toward America; the perils of the ocean voyage; life in the New World; and homesickness and longing. More specific topics include songs about the California gold rush, the Danish Mormon converts’ experiences in Utah, and the exile of Danish Socialist leaders to America. The texts provide a personal, provocative view of Danish and American cultures in the last half of the nineteenth century. Each song is presented in the original Danish with a full English translation and is accompanied by an explanatory note. In most instances, the melodies to which the songs were sung have been located, transcribed, and included in the final chapter. Danish Emigrant Ballads and Songs comprises the fourth volume in the series Songs of the Westward Migration” begun by Robert L. Wright in 1957.

Danish Emigrant Ballads and Songs

Wright, Robert L.

Wright PhD, Professor Rochelle

Literature & Fiction

Southern Illinois University Press

Rochelle Wright provides the first historical overview and analysis of the manner in which Jews and other ethnic outsiders have been depicted in Swedish film from 1930 to the present.
Focusing on films produced in Sweden for primarily Swedish audiences, Wright analyzes how the portrayal of the relatively small Jewish minority has evolved over the years. She compares the images of Jews in Swedish film with those of other ethnic subcultures: long-term resident communities such as tattare (travelers’, an indigenous pariah group often confused with gypsies), Finns, the Sami, and recent immigrant populations such as Greeks, Italians, Turks, and Yugoslavians.
Wright’s cross-disciplinary approach to interrelated issues of ethnicity and national identity enables her to take advantage of the methodologies of historians and sociologists as well as those of literary and film critics. She bases her study on a detailed analysis of the films, but, by way of comparison, she examines filmscripts and literary sources. She also consults contemporary reviews, interviews with actors and directors, and biographies and memoirs as well as critical discussion among film historians.
Wright confronts importantand exceedingly difficultsocial questions. She deals head-on with xenophobia, anti-Semitism, immigration, assimilation, ethnicity, multiculturalism, and the national self-image of Swedes as reflected in their cinema. She also analyzes the manner in which Swedish film represents the persecution of Jews in Nazi-dominated Europe.

The Visible Wall: Jews and Other Ethnic Outsiders in Swedish Film

Humor & Entertainment

Movies

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wright PhD, Professor Rochelle. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wright PhD, Professor Rochelle