Spaces аnd Exchanges

SPACES AND EXCHANGES

First of all, I would like to talk about the notion of spaces and exchanges.

This notion deals whith the geographical and symbolic areas that all societies occupy and the interactions between men and different societies. Our world is built on the exploration and conquest of new spaces. The different cultural, economic, sociological and language interactions have shaped and characterised our modern-day world.

 To deal with this notion, I am going to deals with the immigration of the United States. I will try to answer the following question : How has immigration shaped the American Society?

 My presentation will fall into two parts : first of all I will focus on the United States : as land of immigration, finally i will analyse the impact of this immigration on the American Society.

  I. America as : a land of immigration

 I will present the song " American Land " of Bruce Springsteen ( 2012 ) who talks about the American Dream.He said " Over there all the women wear silk and satin to their knees " " There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song " . He explains why the immigrants come to the US. Through this song, he evokes the thoughts and aspirations of a young immigrant who sees America as a land of dream. The narrator is a young man, his aim for the future is to settle down in the United States.According to the author, the United States is a paradise for workers, a kind of Eldorado. He thinks it’s a land of opportunity.

There were different waves of immigration from Ireland, Poland, Great Britain, Italy, Germans, about a dozen of ethnic groups The immigrants were destitute and they lived in dire straits. America was seen as a land of opportunity.People could become wealthy . For exemple, in 1815 the great Britain, Germany and Irelande immigrants came to America because of wars in Europe, and for religiuos and economical reasons.The great majority entered the country to start a new life.We can established a link with the notion, Spaces and Exchange because this song evokes the immigration in the United States. Indeed, the flows person is a kind of exchange because this people bring their culture and knowledge in a new country.

 II. TH impact of this immigration on the American Society

 The US are a multi-cultural and a multi-lingual society.

Barack Obama in one of his speaches declared " we are a patchwork society. "

The immigrants are necessary for the US economy, they are a real wealth workface ( for example the mexicano employed as workers ), today there are 11 millions immigrants.But two communities suffered from descrimination, the Irish beacause of their religion.

To conclude, The concept «Spaces and Exchanges» illustrate the themes of the discovery of new space and it implies the discovery of new territories, the major waves of immigration, the fact of discovering a new frontier, the land of America attracts immigrants, they indeed achieved the " american dream " they left their country to discover a new land, the eldorado.

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