Between Two Worlds: Slovak Language and American Identity in Out of This Furnace

Abstract

Thomas Bell’s 1941 novel Out of This Furnace, a fictionalized account of his family’s immigration from eastern Slovakia to industrial Pittsburgh, is a significant example of the use of ‘mixed languages’ in ethnic American literature. It was translated from English into Slovak in 1949 as Dva svety (Two Worlds). The novel has bridged the gap between Slovak and American culture in the three ways explored here: Bell’s use of Slovak dialect, the Slovak translation, and two dramatic adaptations from the 1970s (an American play and a Slovak televised film). This case illuminates the complex relationship between ethnic American writers and their lands of origin, particularly in the case of less commonly spoken languages.