Duality and Diversity in the Lives of Immigrant Children: Rethinking the "Problem of the Second Generation" in Light of Immigrant Autobiographies*

À la lumière d'autobiographies d'immigrants écrites dans l'Amérique du Nord du XX^e siècle, l'auteur de cet article étudie la thèse très répandue selon laquelle les enfants des immigrants sont pris entre leur communauté parentale et leur société hôte, et, par conséquent, qu'ils constituent un « groupe problème >>. Les autobiographies fournissent une image plus complexe que ce que décrit ce modèle, indiquant non seulement une existence « ambivalente >>, mais également une vie imprégnée de rêves d'une nouvelle identité. S'inspirant des travaux de Deleuze et de Guattari sur la « littérature mineure >>, l'auteur suggère que la réalisation de ces rêves constitue un aspect central du soi-disant « problème de la deuxième génération >>.
In light of immigrant autobiographies written in 20th-century North America, this paper examines the widespread thesis that children of immigrants are caught between their parental community and the host society, and therefore constitute a "problem group." Autobiographies provide a more complex picture than what this model portrays, indicating not just an "ambivalent" existence but also a life imbued with dreams of a new identity. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's work on "minor literature," the author suggests that the realization of these dreams is a central aspect of the so-called "problem of the second generation."     

Two Assemblages of Cultural Transmission: Musicians,Political Actors and Educational Techniques in the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe

In this study I aim to develop a sociological understanding of why certain techniques of cultural transmission are more easily accepted in some societies than in others. With this aim in mind, I present a comparative analysis of the contrasting approaches to music education in Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. While, as a major technique of cultural transmission music notation found relatively widespread acceptance in Western Europe at least since the eleventh century onwards, most musicians in the Ottoman Empire resisted its adoption until the end of the nineteenth century. The analysis focuses on the ways in which the choices of Ottoman and West European musicians interacted with broader social and political processes in the two societies. In the light of this analysis, it is suggested that technologies used in cultural transmission can be seen as parts of a broader assemblage and their rejection or acceptance can be conditioned by a series of socio‐political concerns.