Amerikietiškos svajonės lietuviška versija: emigranto portretas Alės Rūtos romanuose „Pirmieji svetur“ ir „Daigynas“

Abstract

The article examines theoretical issues of the American Dream and analyzes the influence of this ideology on the Lithuanian identity in the novels Pirmieji svetur (1984) and Daigynas (1987) by the well-known Lithuanian diaspora writer Alė Rūta (Elena Nakaitė-Arbienė), who lived from 1915 to 2011. The essence of the American Dream is closely related to different aspects of immigration and, thus, to the history of the United States of America. These novels present the multilayered problems of Lithuanian immigration into the USA, and discuss the Lithuanian immigrants’ search for the American Dream. All the dimensions of the American Dream as represented in these novels are analyzed: different periods of Lithuanian immigration and reasons for emigration are discussed, emphasizing the personal dimension. The article also discusses issues of cultural confrontation and dialogue, the dynamics of the Lithuanian identity, problems of integration, assimilation, and preservation of the ethnicity within the context of the American Dream ideology, and proves its visualization in Alė Rūta’s novels that represent all the constituent parts of the American Dream.