Hi Doga, I very much enjoyed your detour into a meaningful and insightful discussion of how we, "the foreigner," have tried to bridge the cultural gap with Westerners by explaining things in our culture in a way they can digest (a great example is the General Tsao Chicken dish in Chinese-American restaurants... there's a documentary about this fun subject!). I loved reading about Fatma Aliye. And I feel that those of us who have come to the West, like you and me, all share similar attempts in our own ways. I can relate to the "tactics" you used when explaining cultural differences. I also relate to your preception of the general lack of curiosity among Americans for foreign cultures. I find that to be still true today, to my chagrin. Well, this essay was a delight to read, and now I'm left with a cliffhanger of your interactions with your American dorm mates!
Hello Louisa! Thank you very much for the comment! I am glad you enjoyed the piece. Yes, the detour came as a complete surprise for me, but maybe that was for the better. I am also glad that my experience resonated with your own. The more I write about myself through the perspective of an immigrant, the more I feel the urge to get into the academic literature on the subject because I feel like I am missing a theoretical footing. But then again, it may be the academic in me and I don't actually need to read up on the literature and can just share my own experience, from my own perspective.
You're doing great. In fact, I shared your newsletters with my best friend who's Turkish. She came to the U.S. in the late 60s and found your experience fascinating. She had "vastly different" experiences as a young student here. I understand your urge to refer to academic literature to support your viewpoints. I encourage you to relax a bit into your own perspective when writing personal essays. Gradually, this practice will allow you to see the strength of your own point of view, as valid as anyone else's. In fact, it is my belief that we all live in subjective bubbles, so no one's experience will be entirely identical. But everyone's subjective perception is valid. It is through dialogues and communication (like reading and writing) that we can understand what actually happens inside someone else's mind and body. When you write with that in mind, perhaps it will help you build self-trust and share more spontaneously. Obviously your writing style is very approachable. It's a great pleasure to read. Keep writing your stories!
Thank you very much Louisa, and thank you for recommending my articles to your friend. I am sure she must have had a very different experience than I did. It was very rare (at least as far as I know) for Turkish people to immigrate to the U.S. A lot of Turks went to Germany in the 60s but I really don't know anyone who went to the U.S. So your friend's experience must be unique!
I definitely see what you mean by relaxing and being more spontaneous. I am working on it but it is difficult to shed years of training to write a certain way and try to write in a more relaxed and personal style. I'll hopefully improve!
And thank you very much for recommending my page on your Substack! I really appreciate it!
Hi Doga, you're right about Turkish people studying in Germany in the 60s. In fact, my friend did go to Germany at first, but later on she met an American who was visiting Turkey on business at the time, and got married. That's why she's in America.
Oh, I understand how it is to be trained in a strict academic writing format and to switch to a different style. But with practice, you will find your own "relaxed style" and I bet that you'll like it more and more :-) Keep writing!
It sounds like your friend has a fascinating story! First going to Germany, and then meeting an American and moving to the U.S in the 60s. She must have had very interesting experiences!
Yes, I am actually working on my piece for this week and I can feel that it flows much more easily, much more smoothly. I love it when I get into that state. Hopefully, it will be a good one.
Hi Doga, it's so interesting to read about the pull you feel to get into the academic literature on a subject that is also so personal to you. From the perspective of having been a student of history too, it occurred to me as I read this that, in your writing and reflections on your personal journey, you are creating an important primary source for the subject of global migration in this period of time which future historians will study :)
Hello Suyin! I never thought of it like that, but that is kind of true in a sense. I mean, I don't want to impose too much importance on what I write but yes, theoretically, if some future historian comes across these articles, they may use what I have written in their research!
I actually mentioned my perceived need to read the literature on the topic to my therapist and he said that it may be related to my desire to ground my experience on a firmer footing, like I need to justify my experience somehow. It got me thinking and he is probably right. I'll be more careful about that going forward and try to be true to my own experience and nothing else since what I am writing is very personal to begin with.
I really enjoyed the turn in your writing of this piece that made you reflect on the parallels you shared in your journey with Fatma Aliye. I'm interested in intellectual history too, especially from the perspective of literary primary sources, and it was so fascinating to learn more about Fatma Aliya through your post.
I really resonated with what you wrote about the individual immigrant taking on the burden of representing an entire country and culture, the inadvertent defining of the self in relation to the gaze of the Western other and the power dynamics implied in this whole interaction. Through my process of learning to express myself more fully and unapologetically in my writing, I became aware of this tendency of taking up the burden of representation and universalization in myself too. Layered on top of the familial and cultural expectations that I came from as well, they compelled me to do everything I could to live up to the model of a "good immigrant", and in the process lose a lot of myself. I am slowly unpicking and unlearning a lot of this in my journey now to live a life that is more true to who I really am, learning to let go of this invisible burden and at the same time honour my own roots and heritage in my own way.
As I start building a new life now in a new country, I am curious to see how my self identity evolves with the consciousness and intentionality I now bring to it, which I didn't have before when I started building my lives in other countries. I'm also really looking forward to reading how you continue to explore this theme in your upcoming writing!
I'm glad you liked the article, and learning about Fatma Aliye. It really was an unexpected turn. I was planning to write about frats and sororities on the University of Virginia campus and how alien of a concept it was for us coming from Turkey but things went in a completely different direction. I guess that is the beauty of the writing process.
Yes, it is very frustrating for me to treat an individual as a "national allegory" (to use Fredric Jameson's term in a different context) if they are coming from a non-Western country. The thing is though, as Fatma Aliye's example suggests, it has been going on for a very long time and is definitely not about to change anytime soon. I can see that you have gone through a similar process but I am also glad that you are taking conscious steps to overcome it. I sometimes find myself falling into my old patterns but I am trying to be aware of them as much as I can.
I'm glad you are enjoying the articles. I am also looking forward to reading your experience in setting up and settling into your new life!
Hi Doga, I very much enjoyed your detour into a meaningful and insightful discussion of how we, "the foreigner," have tried to bridge the cultural gap with Westerners by explaining things in our culture in a way they can digest (a great example is the General Tsao Chicken dish in Chinese-American restaurants... there's a documentary about this fun subject!). I loved reading about Fatma Aliye. And I feel that those of us who have come to the West, like you and me, all share similar attempts in our own ways. I can relate to the "tactics" you used when explaining cultural differences. I also relate to your preception of the general lack of curiosity among Americans for foreign cultures. I find that to be still true today, to my chagrin. Well, this essay was a delight to read, and now I'm left with a cliffhanger of your interactions with your American dorm mates!
Hello Louisa! Thank you very much for the comment! I am glad you enjoyed the piece. Yes, the detour came as a complete surprise for me, but maybe that was for the better. I am also glad that my experience resonated with your own. The more I write about myself through the perspective of an immigrant, the more I feel the urge to get into the academic literature on the subject because I feel like I am missing a theoretical footing. But then again, it may be the academic in me and I don't actually need to read up on the literature and can just share my own experience, from my own perspective.
You're doing great. In fact, I shared your newsletters with my best friend who's Turkish. She came to the U.S. in the late 60s and found your experience fascinating. She had "vastly different" experiences as a young student here. I understand your urge to refer to academic literature to support your viewpoints. I encourage you to relax a bit into your own perspective when writing personal essays. Gradually, this practice will allow you to see the strength of your own point of view, as valid as anyone else's. In fact, it is my belief that we all live in subjective bubbles, so no one's experience will be entirely identical. But everyone's subjective perception is valid. It is through dialogues and communication (like reading and writing) that we can understand what actually happens inside someone else's mind and body. When you write with that in mind, perhaps it will help you build self-trust and share more spontaneously. Obviously your writing style is very approachable. It's a great pleasure to read. Keep writing your stories!
Thank you very much Louisa, and thank you for recommending my articles to your friend. I am sure she must have had a very different experience than I did. It was very rare (at least as far as I know) for Turkish people to immigrate to the U.S. A lot of Turks went to Germany in the 60s but I really don't know anyone who went to the U.S. So your friend's experience must be unique!
I definitely see what you mean by relaxing and being more spontaneous. I am working on it but it is difficult to shed years of training to write a certain way and try to write in a more relaxed and personal style. I'll hopefully improve!
And thank you very much for recommending my page on your Substack! I really appreciate it!
Hi Doga, you're right about Turkish people studying in Germany in the 60s. In fact, my friend did go to Germany at first, but later on she met an American who was visiting Turkey on business at the time, and got married. That's why she's in America.
Oh, I understand how it is to be trained in a strict academic writing format and to switch to a different style. But with practice, you will find your own "relaxed style" and I bet that you'll like it more and more :-) Keep writing!
It sounds like your friend has a fascinating story! First going to Germany, and then meeting an American and moving to the U.S in the 60s. She must have had very interesting experiences!
Yes, I am actually working on my piece for this week and I can feel that it flows much more easily, much more smoothly. I love it when I get into that state. Hopefully, it will be a good one.
Hi Doga, it's so interesting to read about the pull you feel to get into the academic literature on a subject that is also so personal to you. From the perspective of having been a student of history too, it occurred to me as I read this that, in your writing and reflections on your personal journey, you are creating an important primary source for the subject of global migration in this period of time which future historians will study :)
Hello Suyin! I never thought of it like that, but that is kind of true in a sense. I mean, I don't want to impose too much importance on what I write but yes, theoretically, if some future historian comes across these articles, they may use what I have written in their research!
I actually mentioned my perceived need to read the literature on the topic to my therapist and he said that it may be related to my desire to ground my experience on a firmer footing, like I need to justify my experience somehow. It got me thinking and he is probably right. I'll be more careful about that going forward and try to be true to my own experience and nothing else since what I am writing is very personal to begin with.
Hi Doga,
I really enjoyed the turn in your writing of this piece that made you reflect on the parallels you shared in your journey with Fatma Aliye. I'm interested in intellectual history too, especially from the perspective of literary primary sources, and it was so fascinating to learn more about Fatma Aliya through your post.
I really resonated with what you wrote about the individual immigrant taking on the burden of representing an entire country and culture, the inadvertent defining of the self in relation to the gaze of the Western other and the power dynamics implied in this whole interaction. Through my process of learning to express myself more fully and unapologetically in my writing, I became aware of this tendency of taking up the burden of representation and universalization in myself too. Layered on top of the familial and cultural expectations that I came from as well, they compelled me to do everything I could to live up to the model of a "good immigrant", and in the process lose a lot of myself. I am slowly unpicking and unlearning a lot of this in my journey now to live a life that is more true to who I really am, learning to let go of this invisible burden and at the same time honour my own roots and heritage in my own way.
As I start building a new life now in a new country, I am curious to see how my self identity evolves with the consciousness and intentionality I now bring to it, which I didn't have before when I started building my lives in other countries. I'm also really looking forward to reading how you continue to explore this theme in your upcoming writing!
Hello Suyin,
I'm glad you liked the article, and learning about Fatma Aliye. It really was an unexpected turn. I was planning to write about frats and sororities on the University of Virginia campus and how alien of a concept it was for us coming from Turkey but things went in a completely different direction. I guess that is the beauty of the writing process.
Yes, it is very frustrating for me to treat an individual as a "national allegory" (to use Fredric Jameson's term in a different context) if they are coming from a non-Western country. The thing is though, as Fatma Aliye's example suggests, it has been going on for a very long time and is definitely not about to change anytime soon. I can see that you have gone through a similar process but I am also glad that you are taking conscious steps to overcome it. I sometimes find myself falling into my old patterns but I am trying to be aware of them as much as I can.
I'm glad you are enjoying the articles. I am also looking forward to reading your experience in setting up and settling into your new life!