Current Sociopolitical, Sociocultural, and Sociolinguistic Issues of Latino Immigrants in Julia Álvarez’s Novel<i>How the García Girls Lost Their Accents</i>

Abstract

The sociopolitical, sociocultural, and sociolinguistic issues many Latino immigrants face as they embark on the process of adjusting to American society have been depicted by many Hispanic American writers in the United States. Julia Álvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents attempts to raise awareness of these issues through the lives of 4 Dominican sisters who immigrated to the United States in the mid-1950s. In light of Álvarez’s novel, this essay seeks to illustrate how many young Latino immigrants currently strive to fit into American society and struggle to achieve success in a linguistically and culturally foreign environment.