Creating an identity by means of cultureStuart Dybek's Short Stories

Resumo

The aim of this essay is the discussion of Stuart Dybek's concern with culture in an alien environment. By means of analysing in what manner several young characters make their way in American society, S. Dybek attempts a survey of the possibilities of integration for immigrants in contemporary America. Following a polisystemic approach as theoretical basis, this essay explores the narrative strategies, the role played by language, as a synechdoche for culture, and the spatio-temporal coordinates. It is then shown that the children follow distinct rituals of passage that will result in their integration or alienation from American culture, and that this is reflected in their mastery of language as well as in the acceptance of representative American symbols. However, the national cultures of their respective parents cannot be left aside. Only through the acceptance of transculturation they can achieve their complete identities. S. Dybek proposes a concept of identity as a process that every individual must accomplish through an investigation of the social environment.