Hi! I've seen similar requests to mine but I wanted to get more specificity in the suggestions. I'm a part of a creative writing program and to receive my Certificate of Artistry as I graduate next year I must complete what is called Independent Studies this school year. I'll be reading 7-10 books over eight months and analyzing them as they relate to my chosen topic.
I want to analyze intergenerational storytelling, specifically through the lens of immigrant stories. I got onto this through the structural shape of The Color of Water by James McBride and the pure beauty of Paradise of the Blind by Dương Thu Hương. Through these stories, a narrator balances stories set in the modern day/their lives as they live them, and stories of their family/previous generations in the past. The Color of Water specifically had a structural shape that I'm looking for, each chapter going from the author/narrator to the narrator's mother's life. Paradise of the Blind had the extensive genealogy I'm looking for.
My mentor has suggested I narrow my focus, perhaps to East Asian, ie Vietnamese stories/writers, or as they said "by engaging through linguistic cultures and locations." This topic and specificity are important to me, structural shape of The Color of Water or not, as, forwardly, I'm a 2nd generation immigrant and have just recently gotten into my family history. These are all themes/concepts I'd love to be able to approach through my relation to them, and the general beauty these narratives are told with.
by Biiarde13