Junot Díaz Drown a Struggle for Cultural Identity
DÍAZ’S DROWN: A STRUGGLE FOR CULTURAL IDENTITY
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Junot Díaz’s Drown: A Struggle for Cultural Identity Against an Unjust Society
DÍAZ’S DROWN: A STRUGGLE FOR CULTURAL IDENTITY
Junot Díaz’s Drown: A Struggle for Cultural Identity Against an Unjust Society Junot Díaz’s Drown is a compelling and surprising set of short stories, each affecting the reader in a different way, but all making an impression. These stories follow a variety of characters, often depicting the experience of the immigrant experience in the United States. Many themes are present throughout this collection of stories, including a struggle for cultural identity, belonging, love, and loss. According to Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (2000), “Drown chronicles the human cost of an immigrant people’s displacement in an environment of cultural and racial discrimination and economic exploitation,” (p. 165). The characters seem to be stuck in a place between their native country of the Dominican Republic and their new home, the United States. Readers, throughout this novel, witness the difficulties faced as the immigrant characters must identify with the “dominant” culture in order to fit into their new home. Thus, the immigrant’s own cultural identities, including language and traditions, are often suppressed in hopes of fitting in to their new surroundings. In this paper, I will first focus on examples of the struggles for cultural identity in Díaz’s Drown. Finally, I will consider the use of this text from a teaching perspective. Close Reading Before beginning even the first chapter of Drown, the reader is greeted by an epigraph that speaks to the underlying theme of struggling with one’s cultural identity. Cuban writer Gustavo Pérez Firmat states, “The fact that I am writing to you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you. My subject: how to explain to you that I don’t belong to English though I belong nowhere else.” Paravisini-Gebert (2000) describes the statement as being a poignant
1
Junot Díaz’s Drown: A Struggle for Cultural Identity Against an Unjust Society
DÍAZ’S DROWN: A STRUGGLE FOR CULTURAL IDENTITY
Junot Díaz’s Drown: A Struggle for Cultural Identity Against an Unjust Society Junot Díaz’s Drown is a compelling and surprising set of short stories, each affecting the reader in a different way, but all making an impression. These stories follow a variety of characters, often depicting the experience of the immigrant experience in the United States. Many themes are present throughout this collection of stories, including a struggle for cultural identity, belonging, love, and loss. According to Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (2000), “Drown chronicles the human cost of an immigrant people’s displacement in an environment of cultural and racial discrimination and economic exploitation,” (p. 165). The characters seem to be stuck in a place between their native country of the Dominican Republic and their new home, the United States. Readers, throughout this novel, witness the difficulties faced as the immigrant characters must identify with the “dominant” culture in order to fit into their new home. Thus, the immigrant’s own cultural identities, including language and traditions, are often suppressed in hopes of fitting in to their new surroundings. In this paper, I will first focus on examples of the struggles for cultural identity in Díaz’s Drown. Finally, I will consider the use of this text from a teaching perspective. Close Reading Before beginning even the first chapter of Drown, the reader is greeted by an epigraph that speaks to the underlying theme of struggling with one’s cultural identity. Cuban writer Gustavo Pérez Firmat states, “The fact that I am writing to you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you. My subject: how to explain to you that I don’t belong to English though I belong nowhere else.” Paravisini-Gebert (2000) describes the statement as being a poignant
References: 9 Celayo, A., & Shook, D. (2008). In Darkness We Meet: A Conversation with Junot Díaz. World Literature Today, 82(2), 14-19. Díaz, J. (1996). Drown. New York, NY: Riverhead. Paravisini-Gebert, L. (2000). Revisiting “Those Mean Streets.” U.S. Latino Literature, 163-174. Riofrio, J. (2008). Situating Latin American Masculinity: Immigration, Empathy and Emasculation in Junot Díaz’s Drown. Atenea, 28(1), 23-36. Tienda, M., & Haskins, R. (2011). Immigrant children: Introducing the issue. The Future of Children, 21(1), 3-18. Torres-Padilla, J. L. (2005). Death to the Originary Narrative! or, Insurgent Multiculturalism and Teaching Multiethnic Literature. Melus, 30(2), 13-30.