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Creating and Preserving Community: Czech Americans in Omaha, Nebraska.
Shattuck, Stephanie Marie ; Králová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Perutka, Lukáš (referee)
Czechs are one of the many diasporic communities that exist in the United States. The state of Nebraska contains one of the largest Czech diasporas in the country. This thesis looks at the Czech diaspora in Omaha, Nebraska - the largest city in the state. Through the use of interviews and archival research, a fragmented microhistory of the community is created answering the questions of how the community has changed since its founding, how it maintains its ethnic heritage, how it represents itself to the public, and what its future holds. This thesis argues that the key challenges to the vitality of the community are generational shifts, conflicts and lack of cooperation between community organizations, and finances.
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The management of language maintenance and shift in the Czech language community in Chicago
Štěpánová, Marie ; Sherman, Tamah (advisor) ; Dittmann, Robert (referee)
The Master's thesis The management of language maintenance and shift in the Czech language community in Chicago examines (based on the analysis of the transcript of more than twenty hours of recordings of testimonies of thirteen speakers from Czech-speaking areas of western peripheries of American Chicago who have been living outside the Czech countries for more than forty years) the issues of language maintenance, transmission to future generations, and language shift in the expatriate community. The work analyses the environment and diverse situations of possible contact with the Czech language, reflected by the speakers, as well as the importance of national institutions (such as expatriate associations, minority schools, Czech parishes, etc.) for language maintenance of individuals. Respondents reflect also the conditions under which they were able to pass the Czech language to succeeding generations." It analyses testimonies of Czech Americans on what reactions they have received on language features showing their origin (such as foreign accent and name) and what assimilation strategies they used to moderate such stigma. The project examines, from the perspective of simple language management, how bilingual skills and the identity of respondents interact in a research interview.
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