The Diaspora Experience

Paper Summary:

This paper attempts to examine the diaspora experience on many levels and to answer many questions about the experience using Eva Hoffman's "Lost in Translation" and Hanif Kureishi's "The Buddha of Suburbia." It looks at how both stories detail the intimate experience of diaspora and how migrating to a new country can impact a person's life. It discusses how both Hoffman and Kureishi experienced changes in personality as they both strived toward finding their own identity in a new environment.

Outline:
Introduction
"Lost in Translation"
"The Buddha of Suburbia"
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In her autobiography, Lost in Translation, Eva Hoffman discusses her personal experience migrating from Poland to Canada during her teenage years. Her intimate account describes the struggles and emotions such an experience can cause. For her, there is a definite divide in her life; her childhood in Poland and new life in Canada. Part of what made her experience so difficult and intense was the change in language. No longer was she comfortable in her environment because of her language barrier to English. He lacked a command of the language and this caused her to internalize her personality. The title of the book does not only refer to her confusion but also a shift of consciousness. In a sense she has lost her social construct found in language and was struggling to understand her new one at time in life when identity and social standing are already difficult. "

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