The Loss of a Language and Untranslatability in Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory

Abstract

Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory (1982) is often seen as a story of professional success and assimilation into American life, but the author was criticized for opposing so-called “affirmative action” and bilingual education, highly controversial issues defended by Chicano activists in the eighties. Conversely, 21st-century readers began to read this work in a more nuanced way. Rodriguez was born in California into a Mexican immigrant family, and at age six, his parents decided to switch to English at home. The loss of Spanish caused feelings of anguish and guilt. The silence in the family reveals the paradox that speaking about trauma is perceived as impossible, while language is exactly the tool to heal the traumatized. The aim of this article is to analyze the complex relationship between trauma and translation in three central themes: family, religion and race.