Reminder: Post answers to group questions here (by Friday)
Reminder: Finish Woman Warrior
Reminder: The following students need to post new questions to the blog (by Monday night): Alyssa, Emma, Esther, Iris, Jane, Jenny, Ken, Letitia, Lucille, Meg, Natalie, Peggy, Qian-Yu, Rea, Sherry
Presentation: Sharon (Lee's "Persimmons" and brief analysis)
As for my homework, I was finally able to offer some additional replies of my own to the Chaplin/Jolson thread and the Harte/Pound/Far/Song/Lee thread. I apologize for the delay... you should read them when you get a chance. I was inspired by some of your ideas in class discussion today; I am surprised how much the thematic material of the past few weeks has begun to cohere together. Your essays may be difficult to write, and your presentations may require warrior courage, but you definitely must admit that there are already many suitable topics floating around!
Bonus: A useful timeline of Chinese-American history.
Bonus: One of you pointed me to this musical theater production about the early Chinese-American immigrant experience. I can't remember who... I'm sorry... please claim credit so we know who to thank!
Bonus: Ken sent this great video urging Taiwanese-Americans to participate in the 2010 U.S. Census. Three thoughts. First, this is very relevant to the discussion we've been having in class about the complex ways in which social identities are generated. Second, I actually worked for the U.S. Census Bureau the last time, in 2000... I have some funny stories, but not quite this funny. Third, wow, that video reminded me of some things I love about the U.S.A. As much as I talk about racism past and present, on a relative basis there is no country more heterogeneous and very few that are so open and accepting.
Bonus: Here and here are the two most famous American movies about "ghosts." I also found the comparisons in this Wikipedia article quite helpful. Perhaps we can use Freud's theory as a general rule: a ghost is something "repressed" (psychologically, ideologically, etc.) from our ordinary experience that "returns" as a kind of obsession. Or maybe this doesn't properly describe 鬼 ?
Bonus: Some further analysis of the Texas schoolbook revisions.
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This is Carol, Ting-Ju, Sydney’s answer on question H:
ReplyDeleteIn the first half of the novel, there are different parts where the author mentions “ghost.” We can categorize the “ghosts” depicted in the novel as two parts—either relating to Chinese tradition or relating to the Western culture.
Regarding Chinese tradition, the most obvious ghost narrated in the story is “Kingston’s aunt,” the woman who was regarded as a family shame which cannot be publicly discussed. We consider her aunt as a ghost implying the oppression of female for this notorious aunt was taken as one who did not play a good role as a woman. Moreover, on page 60, there was a ghost appearing in her mother’s life when she was studying in the medical school (“the sitting ghost”). Kingston’s mother reacted bravely to fight against it, which we think referred somehow to fighting Chinese tradition. For the same connotation, the story of “Fa Mu Lan,” who we were not so sure whether we can categorize as a ghost, is another concrete example. Finally, in chapter “Shaman,” Kingston’s mother said, “…I want you here, not wondering like a ghost from Romany. I want every one of you living here together. When you are all home… [then] I am happy (p. 107).” Here, a ghost to her mother, is someone who wanders and being so far away from or not being intensively devoted to one’s family. The idea somehow relates to the Chinese perspective: every family member is required in order to make a family complete.
And for the parts where ghosts are related to the Western culture, the author regard “[the] Japanese, thought ‘little,’ where not ghost, the only foreigners considered not ghost by the Chinese (p. 93).” Later on in the story, it is also said that “America has been full of machines and ghosts—Taxi Ghosts, Bus Ghost, Police Ghosts…. (p. 97)” For the above two descriptions, we think the author confine the two groups as ghosts for ghosts share the same characteristics as they do—being always around somewhere in the author’s (or those Chinese-Americans) life, but still, there will always be a invisible line between them (human to ghosts as Chinese-Americans to the Americans). Interestingly, we consider the narrator herself a “ghost” too. The very similar feature we see is her identity wandering between the two ethnic groups; in other words, the narrator lacked a definite identity as ghosts do.
This is Natalie who is going to post the conclusion of discussion our group made in the class.
ReplyDeleteGroup members: Natalie, Sherry, and Emma
Question A: Does Hong Kingston identify herself as "Chinese"? Why or how?? How do you analyze her (non)presentation of the Mandarin ideographs?
We think Hong Kingston identifies herself as "Chinese", and followings are ideas to support our statement.
Her mother only tells stories when it is necessary; however, Hong Kingston mentions lots of Chinese tradition within the stories, such as bounding foot, the inferiority of women in China, the stories of 花木蘭 and 岳飛, which means that she contains background knowledge of Chinese tradition to some extent. Someone might argues that everyone can have background knowledge of Chinese tradition if s/he looks up some refernce books, just as Pond can write/translate the poem "The River Merchant's Wife". However, Pond's poem has lots of mistakes during translation since he does not 'really' get what Chinese tradition is. Hong Kingston, on the other hands, uses quite correct Chinese tradition to describe the stories. Moreover, she describes the stories in detail and with emotion of empathy and affection. She does that because they are the stories of 'her culture'; because they are the stories of 'her realtives and families', which compares to Pond whose poem "The River Merchant's Wife" has nothing to do with 'his culture'. That is to say, it is because Hong Kingston 'cares' since she is a Chinese so that she tries to describe those Chinese tradition as correct as possble, and tends to describe the stories with empathy, just as she is the characters in the stories.
Secondly, Hong Kingston uses 'subjective' imagination to desccribe the stories, such as in the story of "No Name Woman", she tries to figure out how would her aunt do under that circumstance (is it true that her aunt had an affair with other man in her village, or her aunt was raped was the truth?). It implies that she recognizes herself as 'Chinese' to tell the stories of her culture and her families. In other words, it is her recognization of being 'Chinese' so that she attempts to step in her aunt shoes to 'reconstuct' the history of what happened on her aunt.
Last but not least, even though Hong KIngston's mother tells her not to tell the story of suicide-auny, Hong Kingston still presents the event to readers by means of written words. It is because Hong Kingston tends to make a notion that the suicide-woman us a 'Chinese', and that woman is 'my' aunt who has blood relationship with me. That is to say, it is the story that links Hong Kingston's present and past which makes her think herself as a Chinese.
*This is not a group answer LOL!*
ReplyDeleteI'm Ted and I have two comments or observations that I'd like to share.
[1] Ghosts
In Kingston's mother's memories, there are Photo Ghosts, Wall Ghosts, Frog Spirits, Eating Partners, and Ancestor Spirits. To her mother, ghosts are merely a form of an unidentified "creature" that awaits to be fed. These were real ghosts that common people are normally afraid of.
But in America, there are Taxi Ghosts, Bus Ghosts, Police Ghosts, Grocery Ghosts, Newsboy Ghosts, Social Worker Ghosts...etc. All kinds of ghosts that are implied on every place, person, event that exists in the American society. These were "people" ghosts that did not make Kingston felt afraid but rather indifferent.
So I was thinking, what are the significances of the relationship between these two? Why does Kingston want to apply the same term for two very different representations?
Then it hit me. The two most fearful significant ghosts in Kingston's "memoir" were the Water Ghost of her drowned aunt who awaits "to pull down a substitute (p.16)" and the Sitting Ghost that her mother had once fought before.
Sitting Ghost in Chinese is 鬼壓床, which is a spirit that suppresses the victims at sleep that they cannot move at all. It represents being strangled without being able to breathe 壓的喘不過氣, in other words, it's a ghost that "OPPRESSES." Isn't this the way how the Kingston family felt when they were first introduced to the American Society? They lack of opportunities of jobs and equality because of the "white oppression!"
The same is with the Water Ghost who tries to drag another victim to drowning death. It's a force of stripping one from their opportunity to live, which is 剝削, to EXPLOIT or prey on them. This is how the Chinese was treated at their jobs, labor exploitations, sexual and racial discriminations by American executives who are "two feet taller than I am and impossible to meet eye to eye."
If viewed in this way, yes, Americans are the enemy suitable enough to be spoken of as GHOSTS in a Chinese-American community.
[2] Representation
ReplyDeleteNear the end of today's session, our class was having a discussion about Kingston's representation of either Chinese or American. While some may seem to view the "Kung-fu" significance as Kingston's representation of her Chinese identity, I don't quit agree with that statement.
As far as we've read, Kingston did quote the Chinese Fa Mu Lan's traditional tale to shape her ideal of a woman warrior. However, the Kung-Fu significance is only limited to the "White Tiger's" text. I would say that this is not an representation of herself but rather just the starting jump zone to improvise on later and further concepts.
Contrarily, she does not talk much about her life in the American society. She does not praise how much she loves the freedom in America nor does say anything else that justifies her identity as an American. We see her through her mother's life , experiences, and talk-stories. Her mother is her storytelling agent, similar to how we see our own body through our own eyes, whereas Maxine Hong herself is our transparent eyeballs that perceive the body but fail to see themselves.
Her life, herself, is a mystery to us.
Aaron said that Kingston is like a book that we cannot label on a bookshelf. But this description fits more on international poets such as Ezra Pound who is hard to categorize because of their MANY representations. He can represent America, England, China, Japan, and still many others as a "culture-tourist."
My question is: what if Kingston is in fact trying to peel off any kinds of representation that can be tagged on her? This is the opposite of Pound who tries to put all types of stickers on himself. What if Kingston is representing herself as "IDENTITY NOT AVAILABLE?"
The difference is that eventually people would try to put Pounds in one bookshelf, and perhaps it may differ from bookstore to bookstore, but it is still ONE bookshelf of some category. Kingston, however, always goes to the "Undefinable" genre, which in fact, is a difficult bookshelf to end up on.
Some times, to grasp audience's attentions is not by identifying with various groups of people, but to stand out as an unidentifiable individual. And that's what I think Kingston is trying to achieve: no representation.
Man oh man~~ My thoughts are so freakin' crooked that I think people can toss me into the "crazy philosopher" dustbin...XD
BTW
ReplyDeleteabout the Nazi flag going on in the NTHU campus that you were making a poll of, it was an ad for the "UPMT (Undergraduate Program of Management and Technology) Week," which is my department LOL!!
The theme for this event was "Valkyrie;" it's a short comedy that the younger grades had performed on "Night of UPMT." That's the explanation and I'm not a Nazi! Plz don't execute me...
An interesting video concerning about the identification of "Taiwanese-American" in USA
ReplyDeleteWrite in "Taiwanese" - US Census 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcFLfw73O30
Here is Jenny, Clara, Sharon and Vincent’s answer about question L. Our discussion will base on the comparison between Woman Warrior and Lee’s poetry.
ReplyDeleteFirst is the gender roles presented in Woman Warrior. We consider the gender roles as social images and expectations toward (or imposed on) either sex. These kinds of images and stereotypes originate from physical differences and then extend to economic and political discrimination between males and females. In Woman Warrior, women are powerless and show domestic functions in social system. They don’t have the power and right to choose and change the status quo. The prototype of the great Fa Mu Lan and the story of the author’s mother in school only strengthen and emphasize the handcuffs chained on women which limit the distance they can reach. Yet, in both the two stories, women are striving for more power. In Song’s poem, she said”in America,/ there are many roads/ and women can stride along with men.” For immigrants, a new land also means new opportunities for striving power of equality. However, for Chinese-American, women and men’s jobs are limited and strengthen the stereotype on them. They are waiting for official recognition (“in the land of free”), fare treatment, breaking the traditional expectation on women (“white tiger”).
They can do nothing but wait for the social circumstance changing. Not only imposed by social discrimination, women are also perceived dangerous in their sexual attractiveness. In traditional Chinese conception, women usually are who should be blamed for the bad fortune and adultery (禍水in Chinese), which can be seen clearly in No Name Woman’s story.
Compared with Woman Warrior’s insufficiency in female relatives and characters portrayal, Lee’s Persimmons provides a clear image of the author’s father. Although he shows some implicit characters, he still reveals solemnity and authority which cannot be challenged. He’s still powerful, even if he becomes powerless physically.
Second is the difference in gender power. Although women still show insufficiency in their substantial authority, the first story of Woman Warrior actually presents another path for Kingston to explicit. While her family members perceive No Name Woman as humiliation of their family fame, Kingston chooses to delineate and write down the story of her. For Kingston the important question is not why No Name Woman was abandoned but why she was eliminated from the family memory. And Kingston certainly makes her answer and choice. The major difference between Woman Warrior and Persimmons showing gender power is the main characters of the two. In Woman Warrior, the narrators are Kingston and her mother while there are usually the men who present their personality and characters in Lee’s Persimmons. The two texts actually represent two ramifications of the same source.
I'm just putting this here for the sake of organization:
ReplyDelete-----------
Rea said...
Here is the organized answer to in-class question J.
Rea, Iris, and Qian Yu
In the No Name Woman, the family punished the drawn-in-the-well daughter by forgetting her name, eliminating her from the family line. In Chinese culture, this is the cruelest punishment a family can ever give. In old times, it surprises no one that a daughter who humiliates her family is forgotten by them deliberately.
Traditional Chinese values the concept of “family” as a whole; therefore, the surname that represents one’s blood is also vital. In our grandparents’ generation, wives would have to add their husbands’ surname in their names, for example, Lin Lin-Lin→Chen Lin Lin-Lin…kind of funny. Besides, women will only appear in their husbands’ family tree book with their original surnames but no given names. In other words, only male can inherit the family name (and the property). As a result, some wealthy but no-son family will ask men marry into their home, to produce male descendant in order to continue the family.
As for the naming, in old times, poor family would name their daughters without much consideration; some of the popular names even carried the meaning of “bring us a brother.” Wealthier family would ask the fortune teller to suggest names, according to old theories such as the five elements or the strokes of Chinese characters. Nowadays, the fortune teller still works. Many of our generation were named by the fortune teller, or named based on the theories. Another change is that in some “urbanized” family, women can now be included in the family tree book. Some of the old customs are preserved, while some are deserted.
Ted said...
ReplyDeleteHere is the organized answer to in-class question G.
Ted, Esther, and Ken
In this novel, the narrator's affirmative tone provides sense of authenticity; however, these "memoir" is somehow actually stories which the narrator had been told (as the narrator mentioned in the story, events that occurred in China is told by Mother). This factor and the part depicting the raid of angry villagers make it complicated to determine whether this novel is a memoir to Kingston or merely a work of improvised imagination developed from her mother’s talk-story (it’s unlikely that her mother would give such grotesque and vivid description to childhood Kingston).
In order to answer the question, we categorize the readers into mainly four groups: Chinese, Chinese-American, American and "Outsiders."
1. The Chinese group of readers is the first generation immigrants or typical Chinese such as the Mother character in the novel. It seems difficult for them to agree with Kingston's writing due to her two-tiered interpretation of the Chinese culture because they are actually the people who know what the culture and custom really is. For instance, it is unlikely that they agree with the sympathy that Kingston shows toward her aunt; after all, her aunt was to be blamed for adultery. They would also express a dispute toward how Kingston describes the portraits of their family members’ back in China as greedy looking, emotionless figures dying for the urge of money from abroad.
2. Concerning about the Chinese-American like Kingston herself, like other groups of people who do not belong to the white category, such as African-American or Italian immigrants, the second generation Chinese-American are also seeking their own identification, and this novel serves as a satisfaction toward their curiosity of their identification about being Chinese-American. The second generations are the major controversy who leads dispersed life of both Chinese and American. They would have the difficulty to decide what’s true and what’s fiction. Fact or not becomes their main concern about the content of Woman Warrior. However, when the family line goes farther away to the third, fourth, fifth, and following generations, their attitude may coincide with “Americans” which we would show as the following.
3. For Americans and later generations of Chinese-American (who began to view themselves with American identity) living on the same continent with various ethnicities, we believe they would hold an indifferent and distant attitude toward this book since it some what focuses on the strong opposing force from the Chinese toward Americans. Although the book centralizes the fascinating detailed life experience of Chinese-Americans, it’s possible that Americans may find it strange and unnecessary to emphasize so much on the oppression coming from this American society. They would deny these claims against them mostly because they would rather believe in the “ideal” that “all men are created equal,” especially in America. Fact or fiction is not the question; what concerns is the bow and arrow pointed at them in this book.
4. Finally, it is the Outsiders living on other continents that have rare connection with either America or China. The impact of this book would be diluted into either a sheer story combining with life of American and Chinese or a memoir of Kingston’s. Whether it is fiction or not, again, is not the main concern. It’s just interesting and exotic.
There is still one more subcategory, and that is Ezra Pound aka “Mr. International!” If he had a chance to read this book, we’re sure he will be culturally evoked to dig deeper and deeper into Chinese culture. Nonetheless, his identity is still an American “culture-tourist.” No matter how hard he tries to interpret, he will still be unable to understand some basic customs that flow in Chinese blood, just like “The River Merchant’s Wife.” In this sense, he could only get as close as being between Chinese-American and American.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is Peggy's question.
ReplyDeleteThe word “barbarians” are mentioned in both of the last two stories. Sometimes it was used to criticize others like Moon Orchid’s husband; sometimes it indicated a song. I wonder whether the idea of the “barbarians” is different in these chapters. Why did Brave orchid criticized Moon Orchid’s husband as barbarian? Is her idea toward barbarian also different from the texts we read semester?
this is Letitia's question
ReplyDeleteMoon’s husband once said “The new life around me is so complete; it pulled me away ”. Brave’s husband though is mentioned little, yet he always shows in a calm and peaceful image comparing to Orchid sisters. I don’t think Orchid sisters are “complete” Moon is broking into pieces in the culture clash and Brave is a odd combination of American and Chinese. Is Kinston suggesting that Chinese man is more easily to adapt in America and to abandon their Chinese identification than Chinese women?
This Letitia, zoe and Tady's group for Question I
ReplyDeleteKinston’s mom as a story teller is full of imagination. She always changes stories plot freely in order to achieve her purposes. Her motives are to teach her daughter to follow traditional virtues and prevent her from committing something that is unbearable in Chinese values. She uses the third person to narrate the stories. These stories are just like fables to her. She knows these are only stories. However, Kinston is facing the double consciousness problem. These stories are the bridges connecting her and her ancient ancestors. However, the Chinese values she acquires in these stories are against from her American experiences. She uses the first person to retell the stories as if she is blending into the character, an ancient Chinese woman who has a modern American spirit. She gives a variety of interpretations of her mother’s stories. She is struggling to balance her inner identification unbalance and to smooth the conflict between her Chinese part and American part by reinterpreting her mother’s stories.
This is Jenny proposing a question:
ReplyDeleteAt the two stories we have to read this week, many characters choose to be silent in some condition, like facing her husband, or facing other American children. Even though the character finds her voice back, her words in some ways break the coherence of the family. Why do they choose to be silent? Why do they try to break or maintain their silence?
This is Esther's post for a question:
ReplyDeleteThe definition of the word “epiphany” in literature is:
the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something, which signifies that the claimant has "found the last piece of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture," or has new information or experience, often insignificant by itself, that illuminates a deeper or numinous foundational frame of reference.
But James Joyce uses epiphany in his collection Dubliners (1914) as a literary device as his protagonists came to sudden recognitions that changed their view of themselves or their social condition and often sparking a reversal or change of heart.
As we can see in the end of The Woman Warrior, Kingston suddenly inserts the allusion of “eighteen stanzas for a barbarian reed pipe,” which comes from ancient times of Chinese border upheaval. It seems irrelevant to the whole narration; however, I personally feel that Kingston has put metaphors inside this paragraph to self-proclaim her own feeling of living among the barbarians. But I wonder which is more appropriate for this method under this condition being called “empathy” or “epiphany”.
this book seems mix with some truth, some lies, some stories and some legends. When every description occur,I can hardly divided that sentence is a truth or a fatasy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, every part is also like her own experience.
After reading this book, I'm wondering that this "woman warrior" be defined as a biographical work or a novel?
These are Natalie's questions.
ReplyDelete1. On page P.151, Brace Orchid says to her son that "Speak in English, then he'll feel he has to come with you.". Why does she say so? Moon Orchid's hushand is a Chinese, too, does he look down on Chinese like the other Americans do? Or it is because he has Americalized so that he has to be like an American? But this presupposition brings out another question: why American, especially doctor who had made a promise that they will cure and treat patients no matter which social class they belong to, look down on Chinese? Or can this conversation be seen as a stereotype/prejudice between Americans and Communists? (COmmunists who speak Chinese hate landlords or rich people so they might rob or hurt the doctor;however, American who speaks English do not@@)
2.At the end of the story, it says that all Brave Orchid's daughters make up their minds to major in science or mathematics so that they will not meet a unfaithful man. I wonder how does Kingston express such conclusion or point of view? How come woman who majors in science can be so smart that to distinguish 'faithful' man and unfaithful one? Hong Kingston herself is a woman who majors in Literature, why does she make such comment in the story? (I think this question can be corresponded to Lucille's question that "this 'Woman Warrior' should be define as a biographical work or a novel?")
An additional post for the "Eighteen Stanzas for a barbarian reed pipe"
ReplyDeletehttp://0rz.tw/adKl1
This is the cheng (the instrument) version of the song, but the background sound is played by the reed pipe. It doesn't cover all the stanzas, while skipping some lines the arranger thinks less important.
Ken is posting a question...
ReplyDeleteWe can read many different scenes about death such as the aunt in the first section "No Name Woman" jumps into the well with her newborn baby, and Moon Orchid dies in a mental asylum, etc. What does death mean to Kingston, and how does it relate to the topic of nationality and gender issue?
The following answers appertain to Question F, which is assigned to the group of following members: Peggy, Jane, Tracy, and Alyssa.
ReplyDeleteDeclaration: our answers focus particularly on the second story of Woman Warrior.
1. The style of the narration. The narrator will first quote her mother’s telling, which usually is the story about China or stories circulated in Chinese tradition. Secondly, she will question the validity of these stories or simply address her query. The narrator will continue her narration by her own imagination thereafter, trying to piece together the integrity of the narration.
2. Take the character of mother for instance. The narrator associates her mother’s role with the heroine’s mother in Chinese myth. Yet actually what the heroine’s mother did and the plot arrangement in the story does not completely conform to the one in Chinese tradition.
3. The narrator takes advantage of the elements of Chinese traditional legends and then reorganize these fragmentations to reconstruct and to retell these legends in her own ways.
4. First we have to ponder on the role of “reader.” We want to inquire WHO is the reader. Since the book is written in English, then we can suppose that her audiences are mainly English-speaking people. However, there are many distinct ethnic groups speaking English. If an Asian-American woman read it, she might identify with the author. Yet we cannot exclude the possibility of Orientalism when an Anglo-Saxon reader who only learned one-sided knowledge about China through her book.
This is Meg posting question
ReplyDeleteIn “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe,” the narrator forces a silent girl to speak. I am wondering here, first of all, if the narrator speaks in English or in Chinese to the silent girl? Second, if the addressees and language are the barriers and the reasons why the Chinese-Americans children do not speak well or even keep completely silent in English school, why does the silent girl still refuse to utter any words to the narrator, who comes from the similar background, and supposedly, can understand anything she says and they are both girls?
This is Sherry posting her question on the last chapter of The Woman Warrior.
ReplyDeleteI am interested by the determined muteness of the elder girl in the speaker’s class. What does this persistent refusal of voice mean, when presented in a chapter that places so much emphasis on differences between American and Chinese schools (in other words, the educational systems of two different cultures)? Also, why does the speaker show strong anxiety and hatred toward this muteness?
This is the answer to the assigned group question discussed in class, and our group members are Joy, Meg, and Winnie.
ReplyDeleteIn the stories, Kingston talks about various kinds of burdens that traditional Chinese women carry, and here we try to focus on several of them. First, for example, traditional Chinese women are not allowed to show much of their affections and emotions; people expect them to behave themselves and suppress their own desires (and thus not to trigger others’). The aunt in the narrator’s fantasy in No Name Woman is a breaker of the constraints. Through the way she combs her hair and through the way she dresses herself, she rebels. To see from another perspective, women are not supposed to have “selves.” They don’t ask question; they don’t make decision; they don’t exist－being neglected whether intentionally or not. The aunt was neglected because of her attraction, and the narrator’s curiosity was forbidden, and her own imagination has thus become a way to escape.
Also, the duty to give birth is another heavy burden women carry, which has been mentioned a lot in the stories. Traditional Chinese value the continuation of the family “bloodline” very much, and that continuation is thought to be passed on only by males, This contributes to the reason why that, in No Name Woman, the aunt would have to decide to end her baby’s life with her—if her illegitimate baby was a son, “there is some hope of forgiveness.” The first part of White Tigers is a story of a heroine, who survives difficult training, fight with men, and can lead as a general. Nevertheless, however brave she is and whatever she has achieved, she is, too, bearing the duty and, in the end of the story, succumbs to it, promising to give birth to “more sons.”
Investigating the different women in the novels, we think that the author is the “ultimate woman warrior.” It’s because no matter what the mother has said, how the folklores are told, and what she thinks, she is the one that decides how the stories should be written, how facts should be changed, and what should (or shouldn’t) her readers see.
This is Rea’s question for this week.
ReplyDeleteIn Woman Warrior, Hong Kinston touches the issue of marriage slightly. In No Name Woman, men got married first then go abroad to work. In At the Western Palace there are more details about the Kingston’s values of marriage: the Orchid sisters. Brave acts like her name while Moon is passive natured. Through Kingston’s pen, the two sisters have totally different values of marriage. Their husbands also act and treat their wives in very different ways. How do these two kinds of value differ? And what Kingston wants to tell us through this?
p.s. May I ask why my previous post (question J) was removed and posted again? Was there any error?
This is Iris posting question
ReplyDeleteIn Kingston’s story, mothers always tell stories. Interestingly, the daughter in “A song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe” tries to tell her mother one thing about herself every day, hoped the mother would gradually understand her. I consider her “confession” as the story which her mother doesn’t want to hear. However, she composes a story with her mother in the end of the story. Does it imply the change of their relationship or something else?
This is Jane asking questions.
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in the narrator’s attitude to her speaking and muteness in “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe”. At first, her mother had “cut her tongue” makes her certain anxiety in both speaking and not speaking. Then, on page166 (3rd line from top) She said, “ I enjoyed silence.” However, “it was when I found out that … the silence became a misery.”(page 166, 3rd paragraph) In different school, the narrator performs her tongue differently. Another conflict is not within the educational system, it is a difference between Chinese woman, American woman and American-Chinese girls. On page 172 (the 8th line from top), the narrator says, “Normal Chinese women’s voices are strong and bossy. We American-Chinese girls had to whisper to make ourselves American feminine.” I wonder whether this is a process of Americanization. And I still don’t understand the why the narrator forced the quiet younger sister to talk. Is it because the way she refuses to talk is so much similar to the narrator’s experience of silence in her kindergarten? Or it is a process of Americanization that she wants the younger girl to “get over it sooner” (page 166, 2nd line from top) just like what other American-Chinese girls did in their lives.
Another question is about how the narrator perceive “mad people and sane people”
We can easily find that Kingston’s stories are somehow related and chronically connected yet still remain separated and independent. For example, in the first part of “A Song for a Barbarian reed pipe,” she explains how the narrator got the former story “At the western palace” which mainly talks about her aunt and her mother, through her brother and mother. In both stories, the narrator gives different definitions toward the mad people and sane people.
“The difference between mad people and sane people,” Brave Orchid explained to the children, “is that sane people have variety when they talk story. Mad people have only one story that they talk over and over.” (p.159,3rd paragraph, At the Western Palace)
“I thought talking and not talking made the difference between sanity and insanity. Insane people were the ones who couldn’t explain themselves. There were many crazy girls and women. Perhaps the sane people stayed in China to build the new, sane society.” (p.186, 1st paragraph, A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe)
What is the significance of understanding the story through such different definitions toward the sanity and insanity? How are these two views of interpreting people similar/different? Interestingly, I find that one of the children Brave Orchid explains her definition to may become the narrator who narrates the later story and gives the new definition of the sanity and the mad.
This is Emma’s question for this week.
ReplyDeleteOnce in her childhood, the narrator was quite confused by the American “I” and the Chinese “I”(我) characters. And so was she by her self-identity. What identity does she choose to establish in her later life, the American “I” or the Chinese “我”? Or does she develop an identity that combines both American and Chinese qualities? Moreover, if she has developed such a combined identity, how does she make a balance between the two? Or is she constantly bothered by the identity issue till the end of the novel?
Here is the question from Qian Yu.
ReplyDeleteI notice that in The Western Palace, there is a distinctive differentiation in the characters. Mainly there are two groups here. Moon Orchid and her daughter who represent the Chinese style. The other group counts the children of Brave Orchid, who stand for so-called “American style”. However, Brave Orchid seems shows the style in between these two groups.
The interaction between these two groups is vividly depicted in the story, especially the one between Moon and the children of her sister. I wonder that if the author tries to give the readers some hints here. Since from the story, we can see that the children of Brave’s show little identification of their aunt. Does this imply their ideas toward Chinese culture? Also is the “American style” the children act actually another irony?
Another interesting thing I find in the story is the names of the characters. First is the family name of the two sisters, Orchid. In fact, orchid is a flower usually used to represent Chinese people. For instance, a famous Chinese author, 陳之藩, Chen, writes an article with the title “失根的蘭花”, orchid which loses its root. Actually this article is talking about the Chinese people who lost their nation, their land. I wonder that if Kingston uses the same image of orchid like Chen does in the article. Also, Moon and Brave are interesting names. Is there any analogy in the names? How come Kinston makes their names like these?
This is the group answer of question K from Caleigh, Crystal and Viola:
ReplyDeleteIn Chinese culture, food itself is a symbol of Chinese culture.
While eating up every detail part of an animal, Chinese people are not cultivating a habit of barbarian but actually inheriting a frugal spirit that treasures every thing; and of course rice is the most basic food one must finish at table because China takes root in agriculture, Chinese people value crop as much as wealth. A well known saying in Chinese society is that “粒粒皆辛苦”---every rice comes from hard work--- and every kid is told so every time he drops a rice on the dining table.
Other than frugal virtue, the shape and meaning of food also pass down important moral value in Chinese society. The mentioning of moon cake, round bowl forms the circular concept of completeness--- reunion in family and fullness in personality. Also in Chinese new year, each dishes has its own meaning like: fish (魚) meaning extra surplus in the end of every year (年年有餘), last ideograph sounding the same as fish. All these simple wishing through food seem superstitious but can however plainly show what kind of ethical value are respected.
However, all the values are fading their color in Chinese food since our generation lives no more under agricultural society and globalization of fast food.
We think in The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong emphasizes on the contrast between killing (meat eating) and not killing (vegetarian). In her view, becoming a vegetarian clears one’s mind and helps one get better, and returning to an ordinary family which eats meat drags the woman warrior back to reality. She as a newer generation is resisting the frugal value that is kind of barbaric, she doesn’t like the animal organs as food at all and it is the simplest thing she can resist on. The only applicable food to her conflicting identity is rice, the common food vegetarians can eat, which has a meaning neutrally traced back to original Chinese spirit as the quiet true self and might be the balancing personality an American Chinese looks for.