Literary notes about EMIGRANT (AI summary)
The word "emigrant" has been employed in literature with a rich variety of tones and connotations. In Lewis Carroll’s work, for example, the term is used humorously and absurdly—labeling not just people but inanimate objects such as “ten quarts of milk” and “a frying-pan” ([1], [2]). In contrast, historical narratives, particularly those by George T. Flom, adopt a more factual tone, using "emigrant" to chronicle individual journeys from Norway to America—highlighting, for instance, the earliest or second emigrants from specific regions, and even citing the departure of entire emigrant ships ([3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]). Beyond these examples, other authors extend the meaning of "emigrant" into metaphor and rhetoric: Thomas Carlyle references “Emigrant Regiments” in a military context ([10]), Mark Twain romantically dubs Ireland the “Emigrant Isle” ([11]), and Theodor Herzl uses the term to draw distinctions between social classes ([12], [13]). These varied uses illustrate how the word transcends its literal sense, functioning as a versatile literary tool that evokes historical migration, societal shifts, and even playful surreal imagery.
- AN EMIGRANT—Ten quarts of milk.
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - AN EMIGRANT—A frying-pan.
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - The first of those was, it seems, the earliest emigrant from Sogn to America.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - It was the first time, says he, that the people of Drammen had seen an emigrant ship.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - Peder Svartskuren was a native of Konigsberg, Norway, being, as it appears, the third emigrant to America from that locality.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - Three emigrant ships left that year from Porsgrund.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - In 1843 Ole Schærdalen [272] came to America from Aurland, Sogn; he was the first emigrant from that parish.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - Hans Barlien was from Overgaarden, Trondhjem; he seems to have been the second emigrant to America from that region.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - In 1837, as we have seen, the first emigrant ship, the Aegir , left Bergen with eighty-four passengers.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - 'Barrel-Mirabeau,' says a biographer of his, 'went indignantly across the Rhine, and drilled Emigrant Regiments.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - Ireland is called the Emigrant Isle because it is so beautiful and green.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain - The middle classes will travel with Cook's tickets, the poorer classes in emigrant trains.
— from The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl - Every middle-class emigrant will draw more of his kind after him.
— from The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl
