“ÖTEKİ AMERİKA”NIN SESİ: HOWARD FAST’İN SUÇSUZLAR ADLI ROMANINDA YERLEŞİKLER VE GÖÇMENLER
THE VOICE OF “OTHER AMERICA”: ESTABLISHMENT VS. IMMIGRANTS IN HOWARD FAST’S NOVEL THE PASSION OF SACCO AND VANZETTI

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to provide an analysis of political, social and historical facts prevalent in the American society by looking into the cultural aspects of the 1920s America through the lens of the American author Howard Fast and his The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1953). The novel offers a fictional account of the execution of the two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, without a fair trial. These two were convicted of a robbery that took place in Boston along with the murder of two security guards, an incident that plays an important role in American history. However, what the novel actually highlights is the threat posed to the American society and its established order by these two Italian immigrants and anarchists. In this study, building upon the intersection between literature and history, it is aimed to discuss the struggle of immigrants for existence and survival against this establishment. These people were subjected to discrimination and unjust treatment in a social structure, which can be defined as “The Other America.” In this respect, drawing upon discussion on literature and history, this study will attempt to juxtapose both narratives in order to unfold the political and cultural aspects emphasized in Fast’s novel. In the darkness of the 1920s, immigrants, workers, radicals, anarchists, socialists, communists and defenders of these worldviews in American society can be considered among those labelled as “others.” As opposed to them, local residents, with their racist, biased and xenophobic manners, stand as the representatives of the establishment and maintain its order via the practices of the law and academy in an atmosphere of the “Red Scare.” In this respect, from a perspective where literature and history intersect, while examining the conflict between the local residents and immigrants, we will unfold how the establishment employs state apparatus. Interestingly, in our country, although this novel by Howard Fast is translated into Turkish, almost no academic research has been carried out about the author and his work. I, therefore, consider this study to be of interest to researchers and students as it gives recognition to a prolific author and his novel.

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