Duality and diversity in the lives of immigrant children: rethinking the "problem of the second generation" in light of immigrant autobiographies

A la lumiere d'autobiographies d'immigrants ecrites dans l'Amerique du Nord du XXe siecle, l'auteur de cet article etudie la these tres repandue selon laquelle les enfants des immigrants sont pris entre leur communaute parentale et leur societe hote, et, par consequent, qu'ils constituent un « groupe probleme ». Les autobiographies fournissent une image plus complexe que ce que decrit ce modele, indiquant non seulement une existence « ambivalente », mais egalement une vie impregnee de reves d'une nouvelle identite. S'inspirant des travaux de Deleuze et de Guattari sur la « litterature mineure », l'auteur suggere que la realisation de ces reves constitue un aspect central du soi-disant « probleme de la deuxieme generation ». In light of immigrant autobiographies written in 20th-century North America, this paper examines the widespread thesis that children of immigrants are caught between their parental community and the host society, and therefore constitute a “problem group.” Autobiographies provide a more complex picture than what this model portrays, indicating not just an “ambivalent” existence but also a life imbued with dreams of a new identity. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's work on “minor literature,” the author suggests that the realization of these dreams is a central aspect of the so-called “problem of the second generation.”

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