„Philologica Jassyensia”, An VII, Nr. 2 (14), 2011, p. 363–370 The American Dream as the Cultural Expression of North American Identity Diana ŞTIULIUC ∗ that dream of a land in which life should be better and fuller and richer for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a Key-words: American dream, cultural narrative, immigrant experience, identity, racial segregation The mythic meaning of America as an embodiment of a new paradise on earth that would fulfill all human aspirations and dreams existed before Columbus and, after Columbus discovered the New World, the vision of America materialized with the journeys of the first explorers, settlers and colonizers. The discovery of America gave substance to an old belief, whose earlier versions placed it in Eden, Arcadia or Utopia, or in some country of the imagination where the religious prophecies of Isaiah and Plato’s Republic might be real Originally a creation of the European thought, the concept of the American dream defies any coercive definition in the field of American cultural studies. According to Frederic Carpenter, the American dream “has never been defined exactly, and probably never can be. It is both too various and too vague” (Carpenter 1968: 3). However vague and undefined it has proved to be, the dream has had an unconscious influence in American mentality, crystallizing a specific forma mentis and, at the same time, differentiating it from the European tradition. From the Puritan enterprise and their dream of religious freedom and a good life to present day American dreams of home ownership and attaining success, or the Hollywood fame and glory, the American dream, born in the collective imagination, lays the foundation of American culture and literature. Carpenter furthermore observes that “American literature has differed from English because of the constant and omnipresent influence of the American dream upon it” (Carpenter 1968: 3). Although the American dream had long existed before, the term was coined by James Truslow Adams, in The Epic of America, published in 1931. Adams extensively defines the American dream as: ∗ “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Iaşi, Romania. This work was supported by the European Social Fund in Romania, under the responsibility of the Managing Authority for the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007–2013 [grant POSDRU/88/1.5/S/47646].