Transculturación, translingüismo y la novela "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" de Junot Díaz

Abstract

Transculturation, Translanguaging and Junot Díaz’s Novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life" of Oscar Wao The aim of this article is to talk about two concepts: transculturation and translanguaging and how these theories are expressed in Junot Díaz’s novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”. The first term was coined by the Cuban anthropologist, Fernando Ortiz, and it refers to the encounter between cultures in which they are changed by adapting elements from the each other. Translanguaging is a process in which bilingual speakers use their languages as an integrated communication system. This term was described in detail by, among others, Ofelia García and Li Wei. After introducing these concepts, the article will focus on how these theories contribute to the creation of a text, in this case the novel by Díaz, that crosses linguistic and cultural barriers.

Keywords

• transculturation
• translanguaging
• barrier
• bilinguism
• fusion of cultures