All graduate students and faculty are encouraged to join us for Tania Islam’s doctoral defense, “Things Left Unsaid: Historical Silences and Multiethnic Women’s Fiction,” on Wednesday, 3/23 @ 11 AM via Zoom.

Dissertation Committee: Miles Orvell, Daniel O’Hara (Emeritus), and James Salazar

Abstract:
My dissertation titled “Things Left Unsaid: Historical Silences and Multiethnic Women’s Fiction” addresses the use of narrative by four ethnic American women authors, namely Dina Nayeri, Edwidge Danticat, Julia Alvarez, and Amy Tan (immigrants or second-generation citizens), who write about personal tragedies and trauma to address the issue of omission and silence in historical records.

I argue that these literary works are an admixture of narrative and history that function as a mode of storytelling that allows readers to bear witness to events of social and political importance. Transnational and literary theorists have often prioritized the émigré status of these women authors to argue that they have been able to become successful spokespersons for their people because of their journey away from their homeland. However, my dissertation employs an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate the opposite—these women authors may refashion themselves as hybridized citizens, but they do not sever ties with their homelands, nor do they speak for the entirety of their respective ethnic communities. On the contrary, through their fictions, these authors focus on the importance of individualistic and personal storytelling to counter the silencing effects produced through the unidimensional processes of History that do not incorporate a multitude of voices and points of opinion. I argue that the use of narrative and storytelling by these four ethnic American women authors redress such omissions.