“I write to find out what I am thinking. I write to find out who I am. I write to understand things”-Julia Alvarez - Auf der Suche nach Julia Alvarez begegnen schon nach kurzer Zeit Schlagworte wie z. B. “Voices from the Gaps“, ‚Ethnicity’, Grenzüberschreitung und ‚Latinas’ - Begriffe, die nicht nur den kulturellen Hintergrund der Autorin andeuten, sondern auch als Themen in ihren Romanen und Essays eine bedeutende Rolle spielen. Inwiefern ein Zusammenhang zwischen dem interkulturellen Leben(-sstil) von Julia Alvarez und ihrem künstlerischen Schaffen als Schriftstellerin besteht, soll im folgenden anhand von zwei exemplarischen Essays - ,My English’ und ‚La Gringuita’ - aus der Essaysammlung „Something to Declare“ untersucht werden.
Mein Schwerpunkt liegt dabei in der Analyse von ‚postkolonialen Aspekten’, d.h. zum einen deren Aufnahme als Forschungsgegenstände und zum anderen die persönliche Bearbeitung bzw. Wertung durch die Autorin selbst. Insbesondere die Rolle und Bedeutung der Sprache soll vor diesem Hintergrund erläutert werden.
Table of Contents
1. Einleitung
2. Biografie und interkultureller Hintergrund
3. Analyse der Essays "My English" und "La Gringuita"
4. Schlussbetrachtung
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This academic paper examines the intersection of Julia Alvarez's multicultural biography and her literary production, specifically focusing on how the experience of migration and cultural displacement shapes her narrative. By analyzing the essays "My English" and "La Gringuita," the work explores the role of language as a tool for both assimilation and resistance within a postcolonial framework.
- The influence of Dominican and American cultural backgrounds on identity formation.
- The symbolic power of the English language as a medium of authority and exclusion.
- Language loss and the struggle for communication in cross-cultural relationships.
- Strategies of "hybridity" and the navigation of identity between two worlds.
- Postcolonial perspectives on the dominance of the colonial language versus the native tongue.
Excerpt from the Book
La Gringuita: On Losing a Native Language
Offenbar zählt für sie die Unabhängigkeit, die sie in den USA erfährt, mehr als der Schutz durch die Familie, der sie zwar vor negativen Erfahrungen bewahren kann, aber sie zum Teil in ihrer Lebensweise einengt. So empfindet sie bei den Besuchen in ihrer Heimat die Vorschriften für die Mädchen ‚dumm’ und kritisiert das machohafte Verhalten der Jungen bzw. Männer (vgl. 64).
Trotz den Freiheiten, die die Eltern ihren Töchtern zugestehen, versuchen sie der Entfremdung zur eigenen Heimat und Kultur entgegen zu wirken, indem sie die Mädchen in den Ferien in die Dominikanische Republik zu den Verwandten schicken. „My parents, anxious that we not lose out tie to our native land […] began sending us ‘home’ every summer to Mami’s family […].”(64). Dennoch scheint die zunehmende ‚Americanization’(64), die sich ihrer Meinung nach besonders im Gebrauch des Englischen zeigt, kaum vermeidbar zu sein.
By now, we couldn’t go back as easily as that. Our Spanish was full of English. […] It was a measure of the growing distance between ourselves and our native culture – a distance we all felt we could easily retrace with just a little practise. It wasn’t until I failed at first love, in Spanish, that I realized how unbridgeable that gap had become. (64)
Diese unüberbrückbare Lücke von der Julia Alvarez hier spricht, bezieht sich auf Sprachlosigkeit oder Kommunikationsprobleme im Alltag ebenso wie eine gestörte
Summary of Chapters
1. Einleitung: Provides an overview of the thematic focus, introducing Julia Alvarez as a central figure in the context of "Chicana" literature and the importance of postcolonial aspects.
2. Biografie und interkultureller Hintergrund: Discusses the author's upbringing in the Dominican Republic and her migration to the United States as a foundational experience for her identity crisis and literary development.
3. Analyse der Essays "My English" und "La Gringuita": Examines the specific role of language, the "colonization" of Spanish by English, and the author's personal struggle with cultural hybridity and assimilation.
4. Schlussbetrachtung: Summarizes the connection between the author's personal history and her work, emphasizing her goal to depict the reality of living between cultures rather than solving the conflicts themselves.
Keywords
Julia Alvarez, Postcolonialism, Identity, Migration, Language Loss, Assimilation, Hybridity, Chicana Literature, Spanglish, Cultural Displacement, Narrative, Ethnicity, Dominikanische Republik, Empowerment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental subject of this work?
The work analyzes how the author Julia Alvarez processes her experiences as a migrant between the Dominican Republic and the United States, focusing on the role of language in her identity formation.
What are the central thematic fields?
The central fields include cultural hybridity, the impact of postcolonial language dynamics, the challenges of female emancipation in traditional cultures, and the experience of "living between two worlds."
What is the primary objective of the analysis?
The objective is to demonstrate how Alvarez uses her essays as a platform to reflect on the tension between her native Spanish culture and the dominant American society.
Which scientific method is utilized?
The work employs a literary and cultural studies approach, utilizing text analysis of specific essays combined with postcolonial theory (referencing theorists like Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Braj Kachru).
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section investigates the linguistic "colonization" of the author's native language, the psychological effects of bilingualism, and the attempt to reconcile heritage with a new, westernized identity.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key terms include Hybridity, Postcolonialism, Identity, Assimilation, and Language Loss.
How does Julia Alvarez perceive the concept of a "hyphenated" identity?
Alvarez views the hyphen as a symbolic space where different cultural worlds collide or blend, eventually transforming it from a source of conflict into an asset for her work as a writer.
What role does the "Spanish-only boyfriend" play in the author's life?
The failed relationship with a Spanish-speaking partner serves as a realization of her distance from her native culture and the difficulty of returning to her original, pre-migrant identity.
- Citar trabajo
- Anja Reiff (Autor), 2003, Julia Alvarez "Something to Declare" - A Postcolonial Perspective: The Problem of Language in the Essays 'My English' and 'La Gringuita', Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/57262
