Navigating Culture Crossroads And Language Dynamics In Julia Alvarez’s How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent

Abstract

              In her autobiographical book, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent Latin American writer Julia Alvarez explores the themes of language and cultural barrier.  The story follows the lives of Garcia sisters as they suffer for adapting new language and culture while migrating from Dominican Republic to United States.  This shift leads not only geographical but emotional struggle while the characters in the novel caught themselves in the web of misunderstandings and conflicts that underscore the difficulties of immigrant experiences.  This novel clearly depicts the complexities of holding one’s cultural root and blending into new society, providing how language and cultural shifts, affects individual and familial connection.  Alvarez skillfully highlights the challenges faced by Garcia sisters while adapting new environment while holding their cultural heritage and revealing the complex nature of their identities between two distinct worlds.  Through the lens of language, the novel displays the complexities of identities and intricacies of communication in various landscapes, portraying the sister’s journey.