Author Description

Navigating between the shoals of "assimilation" and "acculturation", Dr Collins finds in the Greek community of Houston a group that has been less affected by the host community than sociologists insist happens, and in turn only marginally impressing its ways on the Americans around it. This strong sense of community derives not so much from continued contacts with Greece, but from shared cultural features within the ethnic group itself - language, religion, marriage structures, festivals, etc. These findings support the view of a pluralistic society in America rather than the long prevalent assimilationist view which holds that immigrants automatically mix and lose much of their ethnic identity: the melting-pot theory. This study proposes that Greek-Americans in the society examined are not so much trying to be more American but less Greek in certain respects: e.g., community provincialism and narrowmindedness. The study is supported by illustrations, notes, appendices (including a Greek glossary), bibliography and index.