PhD student, German
anagumakate[at]gmail.com
Parallel to the disintegration of conceptual boundaries, the importance of traditional connections between author, language, and land of origin is also waning. In fact, it is increasingly the case that authors, many of whom have migrated at least once and perhaps multiple times, choose to write in languages other than their mother tongue. Their writing is inspired by a global network of influences and, in turn, often through translation, reaches audiences throughout the world, enabling constant and pervasive interaction.
Literary production occurs outside of – or in spite of – national contexts and borders. National boundaries and designations, as well as the history based on these concepts, have been shown to be constructs, as are their social, psychological, and geographical consequences. Diaspora, exile, migration, and memory are all experiences which allow – or perhaps even necessitate – the transgression and transcendence of national constructs. Literature is a means by which personal and collective memory is transmitted beyond borders, boundaries, and official versions of history. The literary expression and preservation of memory is far less likely to be ideologically motivated than is history (Seyhan, 2001).
Azade Seyhan, author of Writing Outside the Nation, asserts that the current critical vocabulary is not adequate to describe the emerging (re)conceptions of nation and nationality and the literature that portrays experiences with these. There is an increasing number of communities existing beyond or beside national designations. National, ethnic, and cultural identities are constantly being disassembled and rebuilt through the media of language and literature.[1] Seyhan also discusses the language used and produced in transnational literature, stating that this literature is often bi- or multilingual. Similarly, Heidi Rösch proposes a specific term to describe the synthesis of multiple languages and the contexts behind them – “interlingual” (2004, 95). Her description emphasizes the manner in which multiple languages and dialects become interwoven according to a writer’s, or a speaker’s, personal linguistic experience and repertoire.
As identities move away from the confines of traditional national and ethnic designations, authors move away from loyalty, or feelings of obligation, to one language or audience. People are becoming free to experience, and to record and relate their experiences, in multiple languages.
Works
Cited
Rösch, Heidi. “Migrationsliteratur als neue
Weltliteratur.“ Sprachkunst 35,
2004. 89–109.
Seyhan, Azade. Writing Outside the Nation. Princeton: