Princeton University
What if you grew up with a passport from one country, a face from another continent, an accent from yet another, and live somewhere related to none of them? What if you moved constantly because your parents were diplomats, missionaries, or in the military? What if the real answer to the question “Where are you from?” or “Where did you grow up?” is so complicated that you tend to give a convenient rather than honest answer? What if you experience culture shock not on going to a foreign country but on returning to the country that is ostensibly your “home”?
In this course, we will explores narratives of youthful cultural and linguistic adaptation by those who have spent their childhood crossing national boundaries, including global nomads or repatriates (those who grew up in several countries outside their parents’ country of origin, some of who return to that country as teenagers or adults), hidden immigrants (foreigners who look or speak like the majority population), binational children (those with parents from different nations and/or ethnicities), teen immigrants (those who moved to a new country while teenagers), and study abroad students (those who spent a year abroad in high school or college). Some topics of discussion will be how the narrators construct meaningful identities and produce a sense of belonging or alienation through narrative; how they negotiate the intricacies of language, culture, family, and place; what role reading plays in their lives; and whether their books share any common metaphors about marginality, transition, ambivalence, or adaptability.
General
Readings
Primary Texts
[\o] Faith Eidse & Nina Sichel, Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up Global (2004)
[\c] Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (2004)
[\o] Eva Hoffman, Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language (1989)
[\c] Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese (2006)
[\c] Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007)
[\c] Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible (1998)
[\o] Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007)
Alternative Memoirs
[\c] Gini Alhadeff, The Sun at Midday – Growing up in Egypt, Sudan, Italy, and Japan
[\c] Isabel Allende, Paula – Growing up in Chile, Bolivia, and Lebanon
[\c] George E. Allingham, Growing Up in Khaki: Life as a Service Brat – Growing up on American military bases, humorous
[\c] Marie Arana, American Chica – Multicultural childhood in Peru and the US
[\c] Tara Bahrampour, To See and See Again: A Life in Iran and America – Growing up in Iran and California
[\c] Gene Bell-Villada, Overseas American: Growing Up Gringo in the Tropics – Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Cuba
[\o] Clark Blaise, Resident Alien – Multicultural upbringing in Canada and the US
[\c] Susan Choi, The Foreign Student (1998)
[\o] Daniel Coleman, The Scent of Eucalyptus: A Missionary Childhood in Ethiopia
[\c] John Minor Espy, Heresies, Major Departures: A China Mission Boyhood
[\c] Carlos Fuentes, Myself with Others – Mexican upbringing in US and Latin America
[\c] Alexandra Fuller, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood (2003) – White upbringing in Zimbabwe
[\c] Linda Furiya, Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America (2006)
[\o] Peter Godwin, Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa – American in Rhodesia
[\c] Rebecca Haile, Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia – Ethiopian American upbringing
[\o] Penelope Lively, Oleander, Jacaranda: A Childhood Perceived – Growing up in Egypt, Palestine, Sudan in 1930s–40s
[\c] May-lee Chai, Hapa Girl: A Memoir – Irish-Chinese American in South Dakota
[\c] Elaine Neil Orr, Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life – American in Nigeria
[\c] Stella Ify Osammor, Silhouettes of a Treasured Heritage – Biracial upbringing in Britain, Ghana, US
[\c] Edward Said, Out of Place – Egypt and Princeton
[\c] Ilan Stavans, On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language – Eastern European Jewish upbringing in Mexico
Sara Mansfield Taber, Of Many Lands: Journal of a Traveling Childhood – American in Asia
[\c] Norma E. Cantú, Paths to Discovery: Autobiographies from Chicanas with Careers in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering (2008)
[\c] Alice Kaplan, French Lessons (1994)
Alternative Novels
[\c] Eileen Drew, Blue Taxis: Stories about Africa – American growing up in West Africa
[\c] Kazuo Ishiguro, When We Were Orphans – Early 20th-century Britain and China
[\c] J. G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun – British child in Shanghai WW II prison camp
[\c] Jane Kurtz, Jakarta Missing – Young adult novel about moving to the US after growing up in Indonesia
Videos
[\o] The Traumatizing Gift: A Global Childhood – Talk by Saeko Mizuta at TEDx Fullbright Tokyo
[\o] Say It Right – Hiwot Adilow, Brave New Voices 2012
[\o] Featured in Princeton Weekly Bulletin, November 3–9, 2008