Pedro Quintino de Sousa

Lessons from America Multilingualism, Translingualism and Empathy in Cynthia Ozick, Aleksandar Hemon and Viet Thanh Nguyen

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Universidade do Algarve/CIAC, Portugal

peqsousa@ualg.pt

ABSTRACT

Multilingualism implies the proficient use of three or more languages ranging from native fluency to contextual usage. Translingualism consists of authors writing in more than one language or one language other than their mother tongue. When applied to literature, multi- and translingualism enhance narratives by using different languages, preemptive translation (writing to be translated from or into a dominant language) and preventing national claim over novels with intended moral and global reach. This article shows multi- and translingual American literature as the linguistic right to choose English to express the origin and consequences of social, political and military oppression and displacement; also, through the lens of preemptive translation, it intends to confirm the empathic effect of multi- and translingual narratives in monolingual readers. Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl, Aleksandar Hemon’s The Question of Bruno and Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Refugees demonstrate how multi- and translingual literature in the English speaking context – in detriment of Polish, Bosnian and Vietnamese – allow the authors to address the horrors of the nazi concentration camps, the siege of Sarajevo, the abandoning of Vietnam and the experience of the new homeland of America. Both monolingual and multilingual, native and non-native English readers become aware of ethnic and immigrant struggles; in sum, multi- and translingual literature ultimately translate as an ethical learning towards the other.

Keywords

Multilingualism; translingualism; empathy; ethics; Alexander Hemon; Cynthia Ozick; Viet Thanh Nguyen

References

1. Hemon, A. (2012). The Question of Bruno. Picador.

2. Nguyen, V. T. (2017). The Refugees. Grove Press.

3. Ozick, C. (2007). The Shawl. Phoenix.

4. Pavlenko, A. (2005). Emotions and Multilingualism. Cambridge University Press.

5. Walkowitz, R. L. (2015). Born Translated. The Contemporary Novel in an Age of World Literature. Columbia University Press.