Lost in Translation

Eva Hoffman tells an outstanding story of her family’s move from Poland to America in the late 1950s when Eva was a young 13 years old. Lost in Translation portrays Eva’s maturity through the growing pains of identity through her immigration experience. Language, culture, and perception are considered

in Eva’s memoir of the immigrant experience. These are issues that most interpreters have encountered. When learning a new language we experienced a degree of the dislocation so eloquently described.

Many aspects of Eva’s life change when she moves to Canada. Eva’s first day of school in Canada immedately protrays the new lifestyle in which she encounters. The teacher is unable to properly pronounce her name, Ewa, and is quick to Americanize the name to Eva. Many immigrants, presumably, go through the same occurance. Words do not sound the same or are not easily pronounced in a different language so they are changed to something easier in the language. Not only is Eva’s language lost, at this point her entire identity is stripped from her.

Passion for the piano soon is lost with Eva’s new life in America. Culturally, the piano is not as prestigious

of an occupation in Canada as it was in Poland. Writing becomes Eva’s new passion. Being able to completely grasp, understand, and articulate herself is what Eva wanted to express in life. Instead of expressing herself through music as she once had, she expressed herself through words.

Each section can be seen as a period of growth. Paradise is fantacy, childish, and naпve. Exile describes