A comprehensive look at the Norwegian-language press, celebrating the tireless writers, editors, and publishers whose efforts helped guide Norwegian immigrants on their path to becoming Norwegian Americans

"Originally published serially in the Norwegian-language newspaper Decorah Posten in the 1920s, The Rise of Jonas Olsen illustrates an immigrant's struggle to preserve his identity and heritage while striving to become fully accepted as an American."--BOOK JACKET.

Without blurring the distinction between verifiable historic source material and literary imagination, the study combines historical, literary, and social science analysis in its attempt to distill historically valuable information from the central literary and political writings of immigrant intellectuals. It is based on extensive primary historical source material and develops new techniques for the analysis of political and cross-cultural discourse.