Introduction
Judith Cofer is the author of “Woman in Front of the Sun: On Becoming a Writer” and a poem called Exile. She has also written a collection of essays, novel, and books of poetry, which have been published in journals such as the Georgia Review, Kenyan Review, and Southern Review, among others. Cofer is currently “the Franklin Professor of English and the director of the creative writing program at the University of Georgia” (Cofer 1). This paper aims to find out the reasons for the tremendous growth of immigration literature. The primary resources used are pieces of writing by Mendoza Louis, Shankar Subramanian and Judith Cofer.
Key points of the piece
Cofer recalls regrettably how she left her home and migrated to America. She recalls the meaningless of her past life and relates it with a canceled stamp. She remarks that it is not easy to forget the past because it is part of her. She stated that recollecting the horrible past is painful, but it is difficult to let go even when you are threatened with death. Immigrants are forced to look back into the life they are used to. In the poem, she attributes her future with success.
Rob Nixon notes that he left South Africa for America when he was 25. He recalls how his grandparents landed in South Africa early in the nineteenth century from Scotland. Two generations later, he notes that the grandchildren are scattered in four continents, namely Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America. He recalls the role politics played in causing his departure from South Africa to America. Though migrant experience is painful, the emotions of tracing his roots pushed him forward. According to Nixon (68), there is a lot of uncertainty in the destination country for immigrants. The past lives keep on haunting them, and at the same time, they do not know what the future holds. The destination country may have many opportunities but can still be worse than the country of origin.
The explanation of why the piece is an example of the New Literature of immigration
Immigration has been one of the fundamental realities of life for most people in America since the nineteenth century. According to Mendoza and Shankar (5), immigration is rated as the most important theme in Hispanic literature. It has provoked the development of a new type of literature called the new literature of immigration that addresses the reasons for immigration and other related issues. According to Cofer (112), no one warned him of the dangers of looking back when he migrated to America for Exile. Others like Nixon were reluctant to move to America, but the political situation in his mother country (Apartheid) forced him to move.
Immigration literature takes different models and is written by immigrants who belong to the third generation of Americans. Nixon and Cofer’s works are part of third-generation Americans. The two reflect on the experience the immigrants go through during the whole process of immigration and the challenges they face in the destination country. They found it hard to forget the past while living in a foreign land.
Immigration literature addresses the primary elements of immigration, including the anxiety of loneliness, determination, success challenges, and uncertainty, among others. Cofer feels abandoned in a foreign land and recalls the success of fishermen she left behind (Cofer 112). Nixon had a childhood dream of moving overseas, but the feeling of loneliness and uncertainty made him change his mind. The challenge of self-identity and cultural adaptation make it hard for immigrants to forget their past. The opposition that is seen in the immigration literature results from the struggle of immigrants to identify the new self and forget the other. The narrator expresses his wish not to acquire the new self because of the uncertainty that characterizes immigration. Rob Nixon says that no migrant knows how much they are going to need the past.
According to Kolodny (52), immigration literature addresses the issues of “self and the other.” The past and present lives of the immigrants play a major role in the restructuring of their new identity. They hope for a better life in the destination country but also find it hard to forget the past. The fear of new experiences and loneliness make them always focus on the past. Judith Cofer recalls her past life and envies the success of the fishermen back in her home country. Rob Nixon had a childhood dream of migrating but later changed her mind after realizing the high-level uncertainty in the destination country. She remained reluctant to migrate until she was forced by the apartheid experience (Nixon 69).
Conclusion
The immigrants who moved to the interior parts of America still followed their past religious practices, native language, and dreams of success. These attributes have played a primary role in the development of immigrant literature (Mendoza and Shankar 3). The major themes in the immigration literature include language acquisition, physical separation, and development of the self. Immigration is uncertain, and the immigrants do not know what the future holds for them. They continue practicing the same things they did in their mother country for fear of what would happen when they abandon them.
Works Cited
Cofer, Judith. Woman in Front of the Sun: On Becoming a Writer, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 200. Print. Web.
Kolodny, Annette. The Lay of the land: Metaphor as Experience and History in American Life And Letters, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975. Print.
Mendoza, Louis and S. Shankar. Introduction: The New Literature of Immigration, New York: New Press, 2005. Print.
Nixon, Rob. Dreambirds: The Strange history of the Ostrich in Fashion, Food, and Fortune, New York: Picador, 2001. Print.