Living in Two Languages: The Challenges to English in Contemporary American Literature

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of English in (re)negotiating culture and identity in U.S. society, numerous contemporary American authors have explored the issue of cultural and linguistic competence and performance in their writing. Supported with examples from literary texts by Sandra Cisneros, Julia Alvarez, Junot Díaz, Amy Tan, and Kiran Desai, this paper discusses the complex role of the English language in the characters’ struggle for economic and emotional survival. Frequently based on the authors’ own family background and bicultural experiences, the selected literary texts offer a realistic representation of the life lived by predominantly working-class immigrants and how they cope with the adoption and use of a new language in order to overcome language barriers, racist attitudes and social exclusion. Such an analysis ultimately highlights how a new literary thematic focus on living in two languages has affected English Studies.