Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Steven Alvarez

Second Advisor

Dohra Ahmad

Abstract

Through this autoethnography, I intend to explore and understand how migration impacted and continues to impact my identity along with the languages and literacies I speak, write, and practice. How does the normalized devaluing and valuing of literacies, languages, cultures, and in extension identities play out in the process of migration? The devaluation of languages and cultures is in fact the devaluation of those who identify with them; they are left to “feel undervalued” or “not good enough” in the languages they speak, cultures they identify with, and literacies they practice. To be “good enough” or valued, they have to assimilate. What does it mean to assimilate in migration? Where do we draw the line with assimilation? And most importantly, how do we teach and train ourselves to realize the literacies that we practice and claim the space/weight they carry? These are some of the thoughts and questions that form the foundation for my thesis project, “Immigrants in Writing.” Through this project, I aim to explore migration, identity/self, and literacies/languages/cultures as they overlap and intersect.

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