Date of Award
August 2017
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
English
First Advisor
Gregory Jay
Committee Members
Daniel McClure, Andrew Kincaid
Keywords
Adichie, Diaz, Immigrant, Lahiri, Mccann, Post-immigrant
Abstract
The recognizable motifs of the immigrant tale have been upended, as the traditional
narrative has been adapted to capture the multitude of directions, individuals, nations, and paths
of the twenty-first century migrant. In four chapters, I examine selected works from the authors
Colum McCann, Junot Díaz, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to argue for a new
designation, “post-immigrant literature.” Post-immigrant literature treats critically the themes of
loss, regret, and forced assimilation from perspectives shaped by post-colonial, post-modern and
post-identity politics thinking. Rather than narratives stressing the limitations imposed by
deterministic social forces, post-immigrant texts posit more agency, and anxiety, for their
transnational characters. Post-immigrant literature departs from preceding generations by
proffering possibility, empowering the subject, creating space for more voices, and disrupting
traditional binaries, expectations or assumptions. Ultimately, I argue that the post-immigrant
narrative detangles the strands of immigrant literature and disavows the “single story” so as to
appropriately represent individuality.
Recommended Citation
Singel, Leslie, "Commuters, Wanderers, and 'international Mongrels': Resistance and Possibility in Post-immigrant Literature" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 1701.
https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1701