Programming
ANGELINA GUO
For a new language to come
In the immigrant trajectory, from one generation to the next, the fracture between the mother tongues of the parent and the child makes each word an issue, each expression a labyrinth where countries mix.
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In the immigrant trajectory, from one generation to the next, the fracture between the mother tongues of the parent and the child makes each word a challenge, each expression a labyrinth where countries are mixed. Spontaneity is lost in clumsy gestures, feelings are expressed in poorly chosen words despite the desire to understand, a simple "how are you" made impossible by the distance between French and Mandarin. The translation is inserted in this project as a key which, although it cannot account for all the nuances from one language to another, is a first step in the reconstruction of the filial relationship. This writing project attempts to evoke the difficulty of growing up not speaking the same language as those who gave birth to us, and in this sense to make the experience of linguistic, cultural and familial alienation describable.
I do not separate writing from intimacy, nor, as Annie Ernaux would say, the personal from the political. I write, read, translate, and use artificial intelligence based on my own experience and that of my loved ones; all these practices help me express my relationship to language, to the Quebec where I was born, and to the China of my ancestors. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Angelina Guo
Angelina Guo is a translator, filmmaker and literature student based in Montreal/Tiohtiá:ke. Her work explores themes of family alienation, language mechanisms and identity issues among second generation Asian immigrants. She is also involved in a variety of anti-racism initiatives as a facilitator and organizer for the Asian community in Quebec.