Bilingualism and Identity in Julia Alvarez's Poem "Bilingual Sestina"

Abstract

US Latino literature in English, especially by Chicano and Puerto Rican (and, to a lesser extent, Cuban American) writers, has long been included in ethnic studies and American literature curricula in North American colleges and universities. Fueled by an ever-increasing interest in multicultural literature in both the marketplace and the classroom, by the changing demographic patterns of Spanish-speaking immigrants, by the rise of the field of Literatures of the Americas, and by innovative thinking in many Spanish departments in recent years about what constitutes Spanish American literature and culture, the diverse body of Latino literature at this time is receiving broader scholarly and pedagogical consideration than ever. That these authors are uniquely and personally caught between cultural worlds is evident in their dual use of English and Spanish. Some authors, like Miguel Mendez M. and the late Tomas Rivera, write almost exclusively in Spanish, while others write in both literary languages. The Puerto Rican Esmeralda Santiago, for example, rewrote in Spanish her first book, the memoir When I Was Puerto Rican (1993). In the introduction to Cuando era puertorriquena (1994), Santiago contemplates the linguistic challenges she faced as a bilingual author writing about a bicultural experience: La vida relatada en este libro fue vivida en espanol, pero fue inicialmente escrita en ingles. Muchas veces, al escribir, me sorprendi al oirme hablar en espanol mientras mis dedos tecleaban la misma frase en ingles. Entonces se me trababa la lengua y perdia el sentido de lo que estaba diciendo y escribiendo, como si el observar que estaba traduciendo de un idioma al otro me hiciera perder los dos. [...] Cuando la editora Merloyd Lawrence me ofrecio la oportunidad de escribir mis memorias, nunca me imagine que el proceso me haria confrontar no solo a mi pasado monolinguistico, sino tambien a mi presente bilingue. [...] Cuando la editora Robin Desser me ofrecio la oportunidad de traducir mis memorias al espanol para esta edicion, nunca me imagine que el proceso me haria confrontar cuanto espanol se me habia olvidado. (xv-xvi) The life told in this book was lived in Spanish, although it was initially written in English. Many times, when writing, I was surprised to hear myself speaking in Spanish while my fingers were typing the same sentence in English. Then I would get tongue-tied and lose the sense of what I was saying and writing, as if observing that I was translating from one language to the other had made me lose both of them. [...] When the editor Merloyd Lawrence offered me the opportunity to write my memoirs, I never imagined that the process would force me to confront not only my monolingual past but also my bilingual present. [...] When the editor Robin Desser offered me the opportunity to translate my memoirs into Spanish for this edition, I never imagined that the process would force me to confront how much Spanish I had forgotten. (xv-xvi; my trans.) In light of this conflict it is not surprising that Santiago second memoir was translated professionally.(1) The Los Angeles-based Mexican writer Maria Amparo Escandon also has written both in English and in her native Spanish. The case of the Puerto Rican writer Rosario Ferre illustrates the opposite situation. After writing exclusively in Spanish, Ferre began to write in English; she has written three novels in English and has served as her own translator. Other Latin American writers who grow up in bilingual contexts oscillate similarly between first and second languages; Ariel Dorfman, Gustavo Perez Firmat, and Ilan Stavans are some who have found literary inspiration in this biographical circumstance. (2) Despite such suggestive forays into writing in the other language (whether Spanish or English), however, the admixture of Spanish and English in works written primarily in English is still far more prevalent in Latino literature. …