Duality

What parts of your life do you experience duality in?

We asked writers to share times that they feel like they have to be more than one person, and how that feeling translates into their writing. For some, this means knowing what words and tone to use, or which way to act. Some people feel it most of the time, and others rarely. This sensation is not unique to immigrants, but they often feel it strongly when they are in a new situation.

“People most often see my BODY before they see anything else of ME.”

“We are all a MULTIPLICITY. We’re not just two of anything.”

“I think what DRIVES ME to writing, and what drives me to other people, and what continues always to interest me is the MYSTERIES inside people, what’s hidden, what’s irreducible, what remains always uninterpreted, unknown.”

Dipika Mukherjee

"I really feel that the world is now so open, and we should all be open to BEING MORE than just one PIGEONHOLED CATEGORY of wherever you happened to be born in, or where you had the good luck to immigrate to."

"Self-awareness can sometimes be internalized as an OTHERNESS that’s WRONG, but it also gives you a sense of MATURITY, even gives you a sense of EMPATHY, ‘cause you are literally forced to put yourself in OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES."

"You haven’t fully LEFT that place and you haven’t fully ARRIVED sometimes. That’s the JOY and the CHALLENGE of having a dual persona."

"I don’t think of myself in terms of RACE."

Ligiah Villalobos

"I have always felt really COMFORTABLE in both environments."

Viet Thanh Nguyen

"We can only overcome duality when in fact everybody feels like they BELONG here, and everybody has EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES."

"It's not just about my experience, it's not just about my own identity, it's about being able to be OPEN-MINDED and OPEN-HEARTED, to be able to embrace those around us."

"I laugh at duality. I’m a QUADRALITY guy."

Erika L. Sánchez

"I have to learn what LANGUAGE, what diction to use in certain spaces in order to be taken SERIOUSLY."

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