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Letters of Transit: Reflections on Exile, Identity, Language and Loss

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"Letters of Transit" is a collection of five essays originally presented, in somewhat different form, as lectures sponsored by the New York Public Library from November, 1997, through February, 1998. Andre Aciman, the editor and author of both the Foreward ("Permanent Transients") and the first of the essays ("Shadow City"), focuses on the theme of being an "exile" (as opposed to being an "expatriate" or a "refugee" or an "emigre"). Aciman suggests, in his Foreward, that "[w]hat makes exile the pernicious thing it is is not really the state of being away, as much as the impossibility of ever not being away." He goes on to elaborate, in his ensuing essay, that the exile is not just someone "who has lost his home; it is someone who can't find another, who can't think of another." Aciman, impressionistically explores the way in which living in a new city (New York) can vividly reincarnate the memories of cities in which the exile has lived previously (the "shadow cities" of his title). Aciman's essay is fascinating, perceptive and insightful; it is a wonderful short piece which illustrates why his much-praised memoir, "Out of Egypt", has become a minor classic of the genre.

Similarly, Bharati Mukherjee's essay, "Imagining Homelands", provides thoughtful elaborations on the nuances and connotations of the words "expatriate", "exile" and "immigrant"; she draws fine and interesting distinctions among these words and carefully entwines these distinctions with an elaboration of her own life experiences.

The strongest essays in this collection, however, are those of Eva Hoffman, Edward Said and Charles Simic. All three of these writers provide classic insights into the experience of "exile, identity, language, and loss" which are worth careful thought and consideration. All three suggest (as does Mukherjee when she describes herself as an "integrationist" and a "mongrelizer") that the exile can only ultimately be redeemed by rejecting irrational devotion to the narrow and myopic tribalism of nation, ethnicity, religion, and ideology which so often encumbers the exile community; that redemption comes only through freedom, reason and syncretism. Thus, Simic writes, in concluding his essay, "Refugees", that the poet "is a member of that minority that refuses to be part of any official minority, because a poet knows what it is to belong among those walking in broad daylight, as well as among those hiding behind closed doors."

Hoffman's essay, "The New Nomads", is clearly the best of this collection. She carefully delineates the universality of the exilic experience, an experience which can be found in the Ur-text of Adam and Eve's exile from the Garden of Eden. She then discusses the way in which exile can magnify the impulse to "memorialize" the past. The result, she suggests, is that exile distorts the vision of the past, tending to make it an idealized "mythic, static realm" which forever impedes the ability to deal with the present (what Hoffman perceptively characterizes as the "rigidity of the exilic posture"). She then provides an interesting discussion of A.B. Yehoshua's provocative essay, "Exile as Neurotic Solution", wherein he postulated that there were many opportunities for the Jews (prior to the creation of the modern State of Israel) to settle in Palestine more easily than in countries where they had chosen to live, but it was the one location they avoided. In Hoffman's words, "[i]t was as if they were afraid precisely of reaching their promised land and the responsibilities and conflicts involved in turning the mythical Israel into an actual, ordinary home." The ultimate result of the "memorialization" of the past and the "rigidity of the exilic posture" is that exile communities often cannot function in the locus of the larger society; rather, they conceive of themselves as perpetually "Other".

Edward Said's essay, "No Reconciliation Allowed", describes the dislocation of the exile in vivid terms: "a Palestinian going to school in Egypt, with an English first name, an American passport, and no certain identity at all." Thus, he finds himself in a secondary school where only English is permitted to be spoken, even though none of the students is a native speaker of English. While his entire educational experience is Anglocentric in the extreme, he is also trained to understand he is a "Non-European Other", someone who can never aspire to being British in any true sense of the word. While Said has been criticized recently for allegedly misrepresenting his past, he is quite forthcoming in this essay in acknowledging his admiration for "self-invention". In some sense, Said's essay and the narrative of his life reflects his theory, specifically the notion that we can (and do) use language instrumentally to construct social realities (in this case the reality of his life).

While somewhat uneven, as all collections are, "Letters of Transit" ultimately provides a rich, varied and deeply insightful range of readings on what it means to be an exile.

This is a very important book from 5 writers who have suffered the unease that comes from being "neither fish nor fowl", something I've always felt as a Jew, but never related to other immigrants, expatriates, or those in exile. This book also draws in writers and their craft, the work that comes out of "homesickness", the instinct to "memorialize in prose". I read this book in a light trance, feeling if but for a moment as if I lived somewhere. Anyone looking for where they come from or even where they got to should read this book.

This is a great book for those who want to be able to place Exile, Identity, Language and Loss in some kind of coherent context. It allows the reader to be able to understand his/her own behavior and the behaviors of those around them. It can also be applied to novels written in the various genres that deal with immigration and exile--to understand the motivation of the authors regarding plot and character development.

There is not, however, based on just one perspective. We read five different authors' point of view and their personal experiences, which allows for a range of inquiries.

I highly recommend this book.

There were several elements in 'Letters of Transit' that, prior to reading, I thought would be interesting subjects, most of which are neatly encapsulated by the subtitle, 'Reflections on Exile, Identity, Language, and Loss'. Of these, I was most curious about Language - these writers are all working with a foreign vocabulary, and, aside from admiring their success and fluidity, I'm also fascinated by the singular worldview that springs from this bilingual aptitude, coupled with the often traumatic event of exile and a search for a relevent identity. This collection, originally presented as a lecture series at the New York Public Library, hinted at a unique opportunity to peer into experiences to which I would not normally have access except through the filter of translation.

Unfortunately, the book did not live up to the expectations I'd placed on it, although that doesn't mean it isn't without its good points. André Aciman, editor and contributor, writes an evocative essay that dwells much more on the Reflections and Loss portions of the subtitle - a memoir of a particular place that acts as a metaphor for all feelings of loss and displacement. Eva Hoffman concentrates on the modern connotations of exile, which some may believe to have certain benefits, but that this self-untethering may also disguise other painful, yet more valuable, truths. And Charles Simic ends on a slightly lighter note - not humorous, though - of the relief he finally found in assimilation. I would not want to insult these writers by claiming close kinship with them and their experiences, but their descriptions of exile match up well with thoughts I've had about my own life as I've moved around.

The other two writers, Bharati Mukherjee and Edward Said, infuse a palpable concern for current events into their stories, which makes it difficult for me to objectively evaluate their contributions. I don't think it is surprising that these authors are still heavily concerned with events in their country of origin, or in the immigrant process - but these lectures were given over ten years ago, and the nature of the debates has altered over the years, especially after the events of September 2001. Reading these essays reminded me of in what ways I look at the world differently from only ten short years ago, and there is certainly value in having that brought to my attention, regardless of either writer's position on these topics. However, that doesn't outweigh the dated feeling, and both writers come off sounding somewhat stale.

The collection ultimately fails, both for dating itself and failing to cohere around the implied goal of its subtitle, although each essay is a quality effort, interesting and effective in its own way. As the conditions that cause exile are still with us today, and it seems as though they always will be, it would be noteworthy if the organizers of the first lecture series were to revisit this subject again, a decade later, with different voices.

In putting together these essays, Aciman shows again his sensitivity. Anyone, who has been removed even temporarily from his roots or transplanted permanently to a different culture, will find a lot to identify with in these diverse testimonies. And those who have not will have a chance to better understand the saga of expatriates.