Silence with Teeth: The Operations and Implications of Silence in Gish Jen’s Typical American
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Silence has been viewed by critics of Asian American literature as either a means of resistance or accommodation, but I argue that silence is a flexible strategy to heighten the presence of racism. Specifically, in Gish Jen’s Typical American, the narrator’s silence about the character’s thoughts and emotions toward racism raises the readers’ awareness about racism. Silence about racism in the text functions as a cautionary device, highlighting its potential as both resistant and accommodative, and therefore, strategic. As such, the silence in Typical American operates with flexibility. By examining and extending the arguments of King-Kok Cheung and Patti Duncan’s conceptualization of silence, this study navigates the manner in which silence can be unearthed from its traditional perception of being a sign of accommodation, a stereotypical portrayal of Asian Americans. Simultaneously resistant and accommodative, the silence in the text is both a reflection of the reality and a means to convey the unfathomable impacts of racism. Without being explicitly narrated, the silence of the narrator operates on different levels.
Abstract
Silence has been viewed by critics of Asian American literature as either a means of resistance or accommodation, but I argue that silence is a flexible strategy to heighten the presence of racism. Specifically, in Gish Jen’s Typical American, the narrator’s silence about the character’s thoughts and emotions toward racism raises the readers’ awareness about racism. Silence about racism in the text functions as a cautionary device, highlighting its potential as both resistant and accommodative, and therefore, strategic. As such, the silence in Typical American operates with flexibility. By examining and extending the arguments of King-Kok Cheung and Patti Duncan’s conceptualization of silence, this study navigates the manner in which silence can be unearthed from its traditional perception of being a sign of accommodation, a stereotypical portrayal of Asian Americans. Simultaneously resistant and accommodative, the silence in the text is both a reflection of the reality and a means to convey the unfathomable impacts of racism. Without being explicitly narrated, the silence of the narrator operates on different levels.
참고문헌 (8)
- Chang, Yoonmee, "Writing the Ghetto : Class, Authorship, and the Asian American Ethnic Enclave" (2010), Rutgers UP
- Cheung, King-Kok, "Articulate Silences : Hisaye Yamamoto, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Joy Kogewa" (1993), Cornell UP
- Duncan, Patti, "Tell This Silence : Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech" (2004), U of Iowa P
- Essed, Philomena, "A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies" (2002), Blackwell Publishing
- Huang, Betsy, "The Redefinition of the Typical Chinese in Gish Jen’s Typical American", Hitting Critical Mass, 4(2), pp.61~77 (1997)
- Jen, Gish, "Typical American" (1991), Houghton Mifflin
- Lee, Yoon Sun, "Modern Minority : Asian American Literature and Everyday Life" (2013), Oxford UP
- Sohn, Stephen Hong, "Racial Asymmetries : Asian American Fictional Worlds" (2014), New York UP