Subject Area
History
Description
During the final decades of the 19th century and opening ones of the next, waves of downtrodden but eager European, Russian and Middle Eastern immigrants disembarked upon Argentina’s inviting shores, abuzz with the hope of freedom from religious persecution and political unrest in their homelands as well as motivated by the prospect of achieving the elusive goal of economic prosperity. By 1914, 33% of Argentina’s population was foreign-born, a higher proportion than any other nation at the time. Beginning in 1905, in contrast to other immigrant groups, the Argentine Jewish population began to climb with relative stability due to significant numbers of immigrants fleeing the post-Revolution pogroms in Russia.
The rise in nativism among Argentine nationalists in the years following World War I, coupled with the isolated communities of Russian Jews in the outskirts of Buenos Aires resulted in La Semana Trágica, (Tragic Week) in January 1919. Scholarship on antisemitic nationalism in Argentina has thus far explained antisemitism as othering of the Jews’ by nationalists for their allegedly not adhering to an ascribed “traditional” Argentine identity. Thus, by discussing the existence of non- “traditional” Argentines, this project not only complicates the anti-Semitic nationalists’ narrative, but also recognizes the often overlooked diversity of the Latin American socio-cultural landscape.
Publisher
Providence College
Academic Year
2019-2020
Date
Fall 2019
Type
Thesis
Format
Text
Language
English
