Somewhere Between spotlights the coming-of-age experiences of second-generation Bosnian Americans whose voices long to be heard and understood. In this collection of essays, readers are introduced to a new perspective from the everyday life of a young Chicagoan stuck on a complex cultural edge. The memoir explores the role in which the author’s family, diasporic community, religion, language, music, education, and geography influence her understanding of the world and her own bicultural identity. Through her experiences as a daughter, a student, and a performer, the author grapples her emerging individualism with the expectations of a traditional Bosnian lifestyle. As she confronts moments from the past, she also works to untangle the personal histories that shape her worldview and examine the nostalgic imprint of her upbringing from a critical, yet compassionate lens. Somewhere Between is a story told from the margins and a celebration of the pluralistic self–all while reckoning with what it truly means to belong.
","abstract_html":"<p>Somewhere Between spotlights the coming-of-age experiences of second-generation Bosnian Americans whose voices long to be heard and understood. In this collection of essays, readers are introduced to a new perspective from the everyday life of a young Chicagoan stuck on a complex cultural edge. The memoir explores the role in which the author’s family, diasporic community, religion, language, music, education, and geography influence her understanding of the world and her own bicultural identity. Through her experiences as a daughter, a student, and a performer, the author grapples her emerging individualism with the expectations of a traditional Bosnian lifestyle. As she confronts moments from the past, she also works to untangle the personal histories that shape her worldview and examine the nostalgic imprint of her upbringing from a critical, yet compassionate lens. Somewhere Between is a story told from the margins and a celebration of the pluralistic self–all while reckoning with what it truly means to belong.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Beslagic, Elvina"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Writing & Publishing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-11-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-11-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:05Z","subjects":["memoir","Bosnian American","culture","identity","diaspora"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/374","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Beslagic, Elvina"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2033-12-09T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Writing & Publishing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["memoir","Bosnian American","culture","identity","diaspora"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/374"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Somewhere Between spotlights the coming-of-age experiences of second-generation Bosnian Americans whose voices long to be heard and understood. In this collection of essays, readers are introduced to a new perspective from the everyday life of a young Chicagoan stuck on a complex cultural edge. The memoir explores the role in which the author’s family, diasporic community, religion, language, music, education, and geography influence her understanding of the world and her own bicultural identity. Through her experiences as a daughter, a student, and a performer, the author grapples her emerging individualism with the expectations of a traditional Bosnian lifestyle. As she confronts moments from the past, she also works to untangle the personal histories that shape her worldview and examine the nostalgic imprint of her upbringing from a critical, yet compassionate lens. Somewhere Between is a story told from the margins and a celebration of the pluralistic self–all while reckoning with what it truly means to belong.
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