http://www.ellisisland.org/shop/product.asp?NODE_ID=48
what really interested me about the ellis island site was the fact that you can purchase a gift certificate for people! It seems there is no end to what you can sell America! You can also purchase images of the wall of honour and even a necklace of the liberty flame! wow! the reason why in particular these interests me is because i feel that Americans are being tempted into buying their ancestry to prove their origins. to me this relates back to tho issues of hyphenated Americans we have been going over and the fact that the number of ethnic groups are expanding constantly as people are trying to make themselves class themselves to great precision. i feel that these items are there to encourage Americans to have pyhsical proof of their heritage and just how long they have been in their country so they can show it to others and therefore expressing superiority.
The entire theme of this site is pushing people to find out their heritage and romantising the entire process which entices people to purchase 'artifacts' to prove their story. compare this to this other site which does not attempt to romantcise the process of immigration and heritage without envoking images and eight corner document holders!
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/eidb/ellis.html
1 comment:
Yes, note the ways that the site offers COMMODITIES and CONSUMPTION as means of affirming family ties and ethnic identity.
What do you think of this? A negative process of commodifying people's intimate feelings of belonging? Or a legitimate way of expressing such feelings?
We will return to issues like this in week 10.
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