Always Writing In Spanish Marjorie Agosin Analysis

In her essay “Always Living in Spanish,” Marjorie Agosin justifies her preference for writing in Spanish as surviving to culture shock, a reminder of her childhood, and a vivid experience of her senses. As a member of an immigrant family, Marjorie Agosin deals with the sorrow and pain of leaving behind her native land to migrate from Chile to United States. She illustrates the frustrations of “...one who writes in Spanish and lives in translation” (167). During her teenage years, Agosin discovers writing in Spanish as the only getaway to escape from constant discrimination, because “... [her] poor English and [her] accent were the cause of ridicule and insult” (167). For this reason, in such times of emotional turmoil, the author decides that

Agosin illustrates that by writing in spanish is “[t]he only way [she] could recover [her]... Chilean childhood…” (167). Consequently, writing in her mother tongue fully conveys her feelings and emotions, allowing her to live in the present her experiences as a child. Similarly, Agosin acknowledges that her nostalgies are better addressed when writing in Spanish because she is able to “... recover fragrances, spoken rhythms, and the passion of [her] own identity” (167). Specifically, she complains that the English words does not allow her to explicitly communicate her stories. As a result, she perceives the English language to be abstract, formal and somber which contradicts the tone and joy of her hispanic heritage. For that reason, once more, Agosin explains that her poems are designed to connect with all those individuals who share her roots. To this end, she insists that “... to write in Spanish is to always be in an active pursuit of memory” (168). Thus, her consistency in maintaining her first language is not a failure of proper cultural adaptation, but an endeavor in preserving her origin, her hispanic culture and her memories