Memory and Identity in Hoffman and Momaday's Memoirs

Introduction: Memory as a Rite of Passage

Life develops through a range of events that can be considered rites of passage for every person. The experiences that individuals face during their lives are substantially different from one another, yet contain many similarities at the same time. This essay examines two accounts of different experiences by two celebrated authors, both of whom tackle aspects of what it means to face different stages in one's life. Both works offer insights into how identity is shaped by memory, and how memory itself can be shaped by a variety of individual and cultural experiences. Memory serves as a broad term that encompasses a wide range of factors occurring throughout the human experience.

Eva Hoffman's memoir Lost in Translation illustrates events from her life as she emigrated from Cracow, Poland to Vancouver, Canada. N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain is also a journey narrative — a young man travels to the grave of his grandmother along the same route her people, the Kiowas, took as they migrated across the land to eventually settle and preserve their stories. Both works contain an element of how memories acquired during childhood can stay with us into adulthood. Despite the longevity inherent in some memories, they are not static in nature. Rather, they can evolve dynamically — becoming stronger through the retelling of stories and the use of oral histories, or becoming weaker through neglect.

Eva Hoffman and the Language of Memory

Eva Hoffman begins her memoir in the midst of her voyage by boat from Europe to Canada. She quickly establishes the situation and conjures memories of the home she is leaving behind, while also introducing the idea of memory itself. After hearing the Polish national anthem upon departure, Eva comments: "I am suffering my first, severe attack of nostalgia or tesknota — a word that adds to nostalgia the tonalities of sadness and longing" (Hoffman). This passage establishes a key dynamic between language and memory: memories are more than words; they are embedded with emotions and require context for us to find meaning within them.

Hearing the Polish anthem creates a sudden realization that she is leaving the only life she has ever known. She writes: "I'm filled to the brim with what I'm about to lose — images of Cracow, which I loved as one loves a person, of the sun-baked villages where we had taken summer vacations, of the hours I spent poring over passages of music with my piano teacher, of conversations and escapades with friends" (Hoffman).

In a later section, Eva reflects: "How absurd our childish attachments are, how small and without significance. Why did the one, particular, willow tree arouse in me a sense of beauty almost too acute for pleasure, why did I want to throw myself on the grassy hill with an upwelling of joy that seemed overwhelming, oceanic, absolute? Because they were the first things, the incomparable things, the only things. It's by adhering to the contours of a few childhood objects that the substance of ourselves — the molten force we're made of — molds and shapes itself" (Hoffman).

This story illustrates the complex nature of memory and its development through childhood. Memories are entangled with objects, language, experiences, and emotions, all of which help define us as people. These forces converge in certain situations to make some memories stronger and more meaningful than others. Scientists who study memory can offer valuable insights into the biological mechanisms involved — for example, neuroimaging research has demonstrated that the amygdala plays a fundamental role during the encoding of emotional information (Kensinger and Schacter). However useful such findings may be, they lack the power to encompass the full significance of memories in the development of character. Works such as Hoffman's, by contrast, offer a vivid interpretation of how powerful memories interact with the formation of individual identity.

Language Barriers and Lost Meaning

Another significant theme in Hoffman's memoir is the language barrier. She explains how it is not only words that get lost in translation, but also the memories associated with those words — memories that give the words their deeper power. Some of the Polish words Eva used in childhood did not hold the same significance for her once she learned their English equivalents. She explains: "'River' in Polish was a vital sound, energized with the essence of riverhood, of my rivers, of my being immersed in rivers. 'River' in English is cold — a word without an aura. It has no accumulated associations for me, and it does not give off the radiating haze of connotation. It does not evoke" (Hoffman).

This observation speaks directly to the way in which language and thought are intertwined. The emotional charge of a word is not contained in its dictionary definition but in the lived experiences layered around it. When those experiential layers are absent, the word becomes merely functional — stripped of its power to conjure memory or feeling.

Conclusion: The Enduring Power of Memory

The two stories illustrate many nuances involved in memories and the recreation of memories for others. A number of different forces come together to form a memory, and these forces vary according to circumstances. Many barriers — such as language, or the absence of firsthand experience — can be overcome in the formation of memory and can still shape our experiences in profound ways. Although science may provide a biological explanation of the mechanisms of memory, it can never fully capture the power of memories or the influence they exert on our lives. Literary accounts such as those by Hoffman and Momaday offer something that scientific explanation cannot: a deeply human rendering of how memory defines who we are.

Works Cited

Hoffman, E. Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language. New York: Penguin, 1990. Print.

Kensinger, E. and D. Schacter. "Memory and Emotion." N.d. Boston College. Web. 28 October 2012.

Lanigan, J. "All Stories So Far." 1 September 2009. English. Web. 28 October 2012.

Momaday, S. The Way to Rainy Mountain. University of New Mexico Press, 1976. Print.