Crossing Borders: Interdisciplinarity, Immigration and the Melting Pot in the American Cultural Imaginary

IntroductionAlong with the Statue of Liberty, the metaphor of the melting pot has hada profound resonance with respect to images of the United States in bothnational and international contexts throughout the twentieth century. Al-luding to the history of the United States as a settler-colony, the melting potmetaphor (like the Statue of Liberty) refers to processes of immigration,relations of ethnic diversity, and notions of national identity and purpose.The term was largely popularized in a play by Israel Zangwill (1864-1926)entitled The Melting Pot, which premiered in 1908. Both the play and theplaywright have generally disappeared from contemporary common knowl-edge, as well as academic commentary, making the longevity of the meltingpot symbol especially intriguing.