Model Citizens: The Making of an American Throughout the Naturalization Process

Abstract

This article chronicles and dissects the U.S. government's narrative communication with immigrants who apply for citizenship by investigating the eligibility requirements for naturalization. I provide a textual analysis of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' comprehensive Guide to Naturalization. The article uses performance theory as a method of analysis to illuminate the sociopolitical role of the public oath ceremony that concludes each successful applicant's process. Interrogating the narrative of U.S. naturalization through its corresponding media reveals that the tasks required for citizenship supersede matters of legality; they oblige applicants to learn, commit to, and then perform a particular narrative toward the goal of an idealized supercitizenry that reifies the nation's power and legitimacy.