Unlocking childhood trauma through self‑translation

Abstract This article examines the role of self-translation as an artistic form of healing from a migration trauma in the current age of mobility. The concept of self-translation, understood as a means of constructing a multilingual self in migrant narratives, plays a key role in Solito , an autobiographical work by Salvadoran-American writer Javier Zamora (2022) , who left El Salvador at the age of nine to travel to the United States and be reunited with his parents. The book presents his efforts to relive the thoughts, fears, and hopes he experienced during this perilous journey solito , without his family. Trapped in the borderland between cultures, languages, and traumas, the author mixes English, Spanish, and Salvadoran slang to translate his traumatic experiences, convey his ongoing sense of ‘in-betweenness’, and reveal his hybrid identity. In this article, using an interdisciplinary approach and drawing upon concepts such as migration, multilingualism, self-translation, and trauma, I analyze how Zamora translates the traumatic memories of his childhood. I suggest that linguistic code-switching is crucial for the writer. English allows Zamora to distance himself from the grief, while Spanish helps him to embrace it and reconcile his condition as a migrant.