Från Mörtjuk till Moline : En kvalitativ studie om den svenska amerikautvandringen under 1800-talet som en emancipatorisk handling

Sammanfattning: This is a study of a single case of an individual, Karolina Eriksson, who was an immigrant from Sweden to the USA in 1882. By studying her life and experiences, the study aims at increasing the knowledge of the mass emigration of the late 1800’s by looking at it from an emancipatory perspective. The goal of the study is realized by studying Eriksson’s contact with her family in Sweden for the first ten years of her stay in America. The main question asked is how we can look at her emigration from Sweden to Moline, Illinois from an emancipatory perspective. Studying in what ways her life changed following her departure from Sweden and in what ways she reached a higher level of independence and freedom help answer the main research question. The result shows that, despite pressure from her parents in Sweden, she had ambitions of remaining an independent woman, avoiding marriage. She found her everyday life in Sweden boring and appears to have been happier in America. She was enriched by learning several languages while attending parties despite her parents expressing their discontent with her dancing. By learning about the American way of living she integrated into the mold of an American woman to the point where her peers were baffled to find out about her not being born in the USA, which can be attributed to her openness to learning about the American way of living. She also reached a higher level of freedom by having more spare time due to less strict working conditions and thus having more time to enjoy herself on her own.