T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

ln such acts of triangulation, more often than most otherpeoples, the outsiders with theirprlmltlveness of the origlnal state of thecontinent, the fascrnatlon of ~ t s novelties andwonders, the rapidlty of its settlement, thedistinctiveness of the cultures which developedthere, and the nature of the causes which over theyears the United States has espoused, made her, forthose who deprecated as well as those who welcomedthese developments, a necessary point of referencefor their own acts of trlangulatlon, a potent imageIn the modern world (Bradbury and Temperley 1981,6).Whatever the nature of the forces at work, it was plainthat when men and then institutions crossed the Atlantlc theysuffered a sea-change. Whatever their plans, and howeverdetermlned they miqht be to preserve European and Thlrd Worldpractices, they lnvarlably ended up dolnq something different.Rmerlca ended World War I1 as the beneficiary ofunrlvalled good fortune-lts lands were unscathed, lts homepopulations unharmed. It had also become the residence of manyof Europe's and Asla's most prominent refugee intellectuals.Not only did the writlngs of most of these immigrantscontribute to thelr natlve cultures, but also thelr presence inAmerlca helped brlnq Amerlcan culture out of provincialisolation. Today the volume of lmmigratlon to the United Stateshas surpassed that of all other malor immlqrant - receivingcountries taken together. There are at present (1993) over ahundred different ethnic groups llvlng all over the United