“Beyond Stories of Struggle and Triumph”: Re-envisioning the American Immigrant Autobiography in Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation

• 발행기관: 한국아메리카학회
• 저자명: Nami Shin
• 간행물 정보: 『미국학논집』제49집 2호, 129~148쪽, 전체 20쪽
• 주제분류: 인문학 > 기타인문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2017.09.30

영문 초록

Published in 1989, Eva Hoffman’s memoir Lost in Translation precedes the age of increased globalization. Considering the discourse of globalization gained much critical attention in the 1980s, however, the memoir was written during a time global modes of thinking started to emerge in order to grasp a wide range of social phenomena. This essay examines how a growing consciousness of increased global mobility and its implications upon experiences of exile and immigration informs the memoir’s form and content. Historically, the immigrant autobiography has been predominantly understood through the teleology of progress and settlement. I argue that the author’s attempt to give shape to her migratory life that unfolds over three nations calls forth a radical re-envisioning of the American immigrant autobiography. Departing from an emphasis on the teleology of progress and settlement, Lost in Translation asks us to conceive the immigrant experience in more global terms by depicting Hoffman’s migratory life as a growing web of affiliations with diverse Eastern European émigré populations sharing the conditions of exile and emigration.

키워드

Eva Hoffman Lost in Translation immigrant autobiography serial migration Eastern European exilic writing