African Memories In New Immigrant Fiction In The US:the Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

Dinaw Mengestu,an Ethiopian-American writer,has devoted to writing the life of immigrants and diaspora groups.His debut novel,The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears(2007)is a subtle and moving exploration of the new migrant condition.It is regarded as the first Ethiopian-American novel to write the immigrant experience.Based on Diaspora theory and Affect theory,by focusing on new immigrants' African memories in the novel,this thesis aims to explore the impact of war memory and trauma on their lives in the United States.After immigrating to the United States,new immigrants encounter complicated racial relationships with white Americans,African-Americans and other new immigrants.The new community and new city highlight their sense of alienation and not-belonging.Meanwhile,escaping from the violence in Africa,new immigrants encounter new violence in the United States as well.Although new immigrants are far away from Africa,their lives are filled with African memories.The memory of the Ethiopian Civil War,the father's death of the protagonist Sepha Stephanos,the traumatic memory and post-war shame all affect his new life.Contemporary diaspora literature reveals the fact that new immigrants may lose their old identities when they quest for new identities.However,through memory,they find links to the old identities.They can't forget their past,however,they can't live in the past either.There is no doubt that The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears not only reveals the traumatic memories of American new immigrants,but also reveals the predicament of new refugees today.Dinaw Mengestu creates literary works from the perspective of new immigrants.Due to his national and cultural identity,Dinaw Mengestu gives voice for the African diaspora groups in the multicultural society of the United States and manage to enter the mainstream literary circle.