The Distorted Lens: Immigrant Maladies and Mythical Norms in Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory

Authors

Isabel Valiela, Gettysburg CollegeFollow

Document Type

Conference Material

Publication Date

7-4-2015

Department 1

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Abstract

The immigrant experience is riddled with the complexities of uprooting, and the challenges of fitting into a new environment where the issue of difference plays an important role. An immigrant’s life is multireferential in terms of how he or she views difference and is viewed as different. Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat’s first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory has instances of extreme disfunctionality due to the interplay of past experiences in Haiti and new encounters in New York City, and it includes many scenes in which characters express and negotiate different sets of cultural expectations, trying to reconcile their differences. [excerpt]

Comments

This paper was presented at the Bridges Across Cultures conference, in Florence, Italy, on July 4, 2015, sponsored by the International Studies Institute and Washington & Jefferson College.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Valiela, Isabel, "The Distorted Lens: Immigrant Maladies and Mythical Norms in Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory" (2015). Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications. 9.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/wgsfac/9