This thesis compares the autobiographic work of Esmeralda Santiago and Emine
Sevgi Özdamar focusing on the aspects of ethnic identity, gender, as well as history and
memory. The argument is that both authors' work not only reflects the cultural origins of
each writer and her trauma of loss, but also each host country's social realities and
conflicts. In spite of alienation and loss of home and language, both protagonists create
"touching tales," a phrase coined by Leslie Adelson that refers to the entanglement
between cultures, stressing more the common ground between them than the differences.
Santiago's work stresses the dividedness of American society along racial and ethnic
lines, but also the opportunity for the immigrant to reinvent herself and overcome racial
and social boundaries. Özdamar on the other hand reflects on the dividedness and
traumatization of Germany through World War II, the Holocaust, the East-West division,
and the terrorism of the 1970s. She compares it to the political and social division within
Turkey as results of the Armenian genocide and military coups. While Santiago views
American culture with distance, Özdamar displays an enthusiastic reception of leftist
writers like Bertolt Brecht and German literature in general. Both autobiographical
subjects find a way to reconcile their own inner divisions through theater work, which
combines universal and multicultural elements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1905 |
| Date | 02 June 2009 |
| Creators | Schwalen, Anja Margarethe |
| Contributors | Powell, Larson M. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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