Just in case anyone still checks this blog: I was perusing the local theatre company websites when I saw that the Alliance Theatre will perform Mulan from Feb 24 through March 21 2010. And yes, the adaptation is based on the Disney version. Frank Chin eat your heart out...
Here's the link in case anyone is interested:
http://alliancetheatre.org/performance.aspx?id=5444
It gives the following information:
"Mulan
Rosemary Newcott, The Sally G. Tomlinson Artistic Director of Theatre for Youth, once again demonstrates her talent for understanding the rhythms and energy of Disney classics by staging Mulan in the theatrically inventive style of Aladdin and Seussical the Musical. Based on the 1998 Disney film “Mulan” and the story “Fa Mulan” by Robert D. San Souci, Mulan is the tale of a heroic young girl in China posing as a man in order to serve the Emperor. An adventure of a lifetime provides a lesson in overcoming adversity in a tale that will entertain and empower."
Enjoy your summers,
-Mike
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Papers available for pick-up
Final Post:
Your papers are graded and available to pick up in the English COPY ROOM (not my mailbox as previously announced, so now you can pick yours up if the office is closed). The copy room is right down the hall from the department office: room # N-304. Your papers are in a box labeled with our class name. If you haven't picked yours up by early next fall, I'll assume you've moved on to bigger and better things and will remove it. But if you later think back longingly of that simpler time when you were in Myth and American Literature and would like your paper (and I haven't yet recycled it), please email me and I'll get it to you.
With many thanks and best wishes,
Sarah
Your papers are graded and available to pick up in the English COPY ROOM (not my mailbox as previously announced, so now you can pick yours up if the office is closed). The copy room is right down the hall from the department office: room # N-304. Your papers are in a box labeled with our class name. If you haven't picked yours up by early next fall, I'll assume you've moved on to bigger and better things and will remove it. But if you later think back longingly of that simpler time when you were in Myth and American Literature and would like your paper (and I haven't yet recycled it), please email me and I'll get it to you.
With many thanks and best wishes,
Sarah
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Mackey Poems Part Two
I hope paper writing is going well. If you need a break, get an early start on the next installment of Nathaniel Mackey's Eroding Witness.
Since we still need to discuss those I said to focus on for our previous class, I'll only list a few more to focus on for our last class, though I'm not sure we'll be able to get to them all:
"Poem for Don Cherry"
"Outer Egypt"
"Ohnedaruth's Day Begun"
"Falso Brilhante"
Looking forward to our conferences!
Since we still need to discuss those I said to focus on for our previous class, I'll only list a few more to focus on for our last class, though I'm not sure we'll be able to get to them all:
"Poem for Don Cherry"
"Outer Egypt"
"Ohnedaruth's Day Begun"
"Falso Brilhante"
Looking forward to our conferences!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Mackey poems
Hi all,
For Tuesday, 4/14, you'll be reading the first half of Nathaniel Mackey's book of poems, Eroding Witness. I'd like you to focus especially on the opening statement by fellow poet Michael Harper, "Ghede Poem," and all of the "Song of the Andoumboulou." If you don't print all of the poems, these are the ones you should print and bring to class.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the end of The Woman Warrior and on Kingston's essay, "Cultural Mis-Readings."
See you tomorrow,
Sarah
For Tuesday, 4/14, you'll be reading the first half of Nathaniel Mackey's book of poems, Eroding Witness. I'd like you to focus especially on the opening statement by fellow poet Michael Harper, "Ghede Poem," and all of the "Song of the Andoumboulou." If you don't print all of the poems, these are the ones you should print and bring to class.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the end of The Woman Warrior and on Kingston's essay, "Cultural Mis-Readings."
See you tomorrow,
Sarah
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A Structuralist View of Woman Warrior
As a first generation (I think that’s what we decided?) Chinese American, Kingston is in an interesting place. She is fluent in both Chinese and English, but she obviously struggles with the translation of meaning between the two languages. It is easy to translate words—the word might be different (the signifier), but the object (the signified) is theoretically the same: a tree is theoretically always a tree. However, Kingston struggles with this: objects (simple signifieds) are easy enough to translate, but concepts and meanings and contextual, implicit, understood meanings cannot be translated. In their blog post, someone mentioned the disconnect of translating the two languages: “What’s the main idea? ‘I don’t know the Chinese words for it.’”
I think this translation difficulty is seen in one of the most common words in the novel: “talk-story.” Kingston does not use the word “story” or “oral history, which I think many people in the class would resort to, but rather uses this clearly un-American word “talk-story.” However, the way Kingston seems to understand the stories, it would be insufficient to merely call them a story or an oral history: it wouldn’t quite encompass the meaning or the importance of these spoken narratives. They are more than just talking or just stories: they are both narratives and lessons, and there seems to be no word in English which Kingston can use to as effectively explain the implicit significance she finds in these stories. Though I don’t know structuralism very well, I would think that it would argue that there is no English signifier for a “talk-story,” and that this Chinese concept / act is something unique to that culture which we, as English speakers, have a hard time understanding out of context. As a result, Kingston is required to find the words best able to describe the concept…but I doubt that we, as native to the US, will ever truly understand it. In many ways, we are incapable of ever truly understanding where Kingston is coming from—but in the long run, I think Kingston does a good job of trying to get us as close as possible.
Last, there is the theme of the power of words in the chapter “White Tigers.” Kingston seems incapable of fighting against the petty racism of her bosses, but she draws strength from words; she explains that “the reporting is the vengeance—not the beheading, not the gutting, but the words.” The power of words to exact revenge most powerfully is clear; however, it’s also clear that Kingston is struggling with the words: she claims to have “so many words—‘chink’ words and ‘gook’ words too—that they do not fit on [her] skin.” The structural harshness of these words alone—especially in the English language, with the hard k sounds and single syllables—is shocking, racist, and powerful. However, Woman Warrior is her act of vengeance: a written narrative exacting a permanent revenge. In her revenge, Kingston is so overwhelmed by the power of these words that she cannot etch them into her skin as Fa Mulan has, for she has too much to say: thus, we see one of what are probably many purposes in the development of this novel, in which Kingston attempts to find the peace that Fa Mulan achieved by returning home.
- Cari
PS: Apologies for the tardiness of this post.
I think this translation difficulty is seen in one of the most common words in the novel: “talk-story.” Kingston does not use the word “story” or “oral history, which I think many people in the class would resort to, but rather uses this clearly un-American word “talk-story.” However, the way Kingston seems to understand the stories, it would be insufficient to merely call them a story or an oral history: it wouldn’t quite encompass the meaning or the importance of these spoken narratives. They are more than just talking or just stories: they are both narratives and lessons, and there seems to be no word in English which Kingston can use to as effectively explain the implicit significance she finds in these stories. Though I don’t know structuralism very well, I would think that it would argue that there is no English signifier for a “talk-story,” and that this Chinese concept / act is something unique to that culture which we, as English speakers, have a hard time understanding out of context. As a result, Kingston is required to find the words best able to describe the concept…but I doubt that we, as native to the US, will ever truly understand it. In many ways, we are incapable of ever truly understanding where Kingston is coming from—but in the long run, I think Kingston does a good job of trying to get us as close as possible.
Last, there is the theme of the power of words in the chapter “White Tigers.” Kingston seems incapable of fighting against the petty racism of her bosses, but she draws strength from words; she explains that “the reporting is the vengeance—not the beheading, not the gutting, but the words.” The power of words to exact revenge most powerfully is clear; however, it’s also clear that Kingston is struggling with the words: she claims to have “so many words—‘chink’ words and ‘gook’ words too—that they do not fit on [her] skin.” The structural harshness of these words alone—especially in the English language, with the hard k sounds and single syllables—is shocking, racist, and powerful. However, Woman Warrior is her act of vengeance: a written narrative exacting a permanent revenge. In her revenge, Kingston is so overwhelmed by the power of these words that she cannot etch them into her skin as Fa Mulan has, for she has too much to say: thus, we see one of what are probably many purposes in the development of this novel, in which Kingston attempts to find the peace that Fa Mulan achieved by returning home.
- Cari
PS: Apologies for the tardiness of this post.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Where is Maxine?
One thing I have noticed as has progressed is the waning presence of Maxine's voice and reflections. "No Name Woman," although it tells the story of Maxine's aunt, really centers around Maxine as she shares the story her mother secretly told her as well as stories from her own childhood and adolescence. It is entirely from her point of view, and includes her speculations about what her aunt's story has meant and still means in her life. "White Tigers" is again told from the perspective of Maxine, and compares Maxine's own childhood with the journey of Fa Mulan, a woman warrior she dreamed of becoming. "Shaman" switches back and forth between Maxine's thoughts and her mother's thoughts and actions as a student in Chinese medical school, but all of Maxine's reflections are about her mother. The story focuses on Brave Orchid. "At The Western Palace" focuses entirely on Brave Orchid and her thoughts about her sister, her children, and her life in the United States. Though Kingston is writing the story, Maxine is only present as one of Brave Orchid's incomprehensible children, indistinguishable from her brothers and sisters.
It is interesting that these shifts in Kingston's book occur so linearly. It shows an obvious shift from Maxine's perspective to some mix of Maxine's and Brave Orchid's perspective to entirely Brave Orchid's perspective. Perhaps this is to make both characters' points of view more understandable. At the beginning of I had a hard time being sympathetic with Brave Orchid's traditions and parenting style, but after knowing her own history and experiencing one story completely through her eyes, her attitudes and actions become more understandable.
It is interesting that these shifts in Kingston's book occur so linearly. It shows an obvious shift from Maxine's perspective to some mix of Maxine's and Brave Orchid's perspective to entirely Brave Orchid's perspective. Perhaps this is to make both characters' points of view more understandable. At the beginning of
What’s wrong with Moon Orchid?
Moon Orchid’s primary problem is that her husband left her in China for thirty years. Even though he frequently sends her significant amounts of money (enough so that Moon Orchid didn’t work and her daughter went to college), Moon Orchid’s husband emotionally and physically neglected his wife.
But Moon Orchid has another problem: her sister Brave Orchid. Kingston portrays Brave Orchid as brave (go figure!), bold, and a tenacious woman who takes it upon herself to be responsible for the problems of others. Among the first lines we read about Brave Orchid describes her adding, “… her will power to the forces that keep an airplane up. Her head hurt with the concentration” (113). This description shows how Brave Orchid thinks she can accomplish the impossible by sheer will.
Brave Orchid brings Moon Orchid to California so that she can confront her negligent husband. While I am all for familial reconciliation, the way Kingston writes this chapter frustrates me deeply. The text reads as sympathetic towards Brave Orchid’s method. But this confrontation has the effect of blunt trauma to Moon Orchid’s psyche. After the botched meeting, Kingston describes Moon Orchid as having a pervading sense that someone is after her. She turns off all the lights in the house, worries that someone in D.C. wants her ashes, and becomes extremely sad when left alone. These symptoms and those described on pages 159-60 are typical symptoms of paranoid dementia.
My opinion is that this man doesn’t deserve Moon Orchid. After thirty years of abandonment, she should leave him in the dust, take the money, and move to Maui. But I wouldn’t force or coerce her into making that decision, and I think Brave Orchid makes a bad situation worse. I think it’s something like cowardice when Brave Orchid (or any instigator) encourages someone else to enter an emotionally vulnerable and dangerous situation that has can do no emotional damage to the instigator. Brave Orchid was delusional in thinking that she could hold up a plane by sheer concentration, and she was equally delusional (and insensitive) to think that bringing Moon Orchid to California to confront her husband would improve the situation.
-Mike
But Moon Orchid has another problem: her sister Brave Orchid. Kingston portrays Brave Orchid as brave (go figure!), bold, and a tenacious woman who takes it upon herself to be responsible for the problems of others. Among the first lines we read about Brave Orchid describes her adding, “… her will power to the forces that keep an airplane up. Her head hurt with the concentration” (113). This description shows how Brave Orchid thinks she can accomplish the impossible by sheer will.
Brave Orchid brings Moon Orchid to California so that she can confront her negligent husband. While I am all for familial reconciliation, the way Kingston writes this chapter frustrates me deeply. The text reads as sympathetic towards Brave Orchid’s method. But this confrontation has the effect of blunt trauma to Moon Orchid’s psyche. After the botched meeting, Kingston describes Moon Orchid as having a pervading sense that someone is after her. She turns off all the lights in the house, worries that someone in D.C. wants her ashes, and becomes extremely sad when left alone. These symptoms and those described on pages 159-60 are typical symptoms of paranoid dementia.
My opinion is that this man doesn’t deserve Moon Orchid. After thirty years of abandonment, she should leave him in the dust, take the money, and move to Maui. But I wouldn’t force or coerce her into making that decision, and I think Brave Orchid makes a bad situation worse. I think it’s something like cowardice when Brave Orchid (or any instigator) encourages someone else to enter an emotionally vulnerable and dangerous situation that has can do no emotional damage to the instigator. Brave Orchid was delusional in thinking that she could hold up a plane by sheer concentration, and she was equally delusional (and insensitive) to think that bringing Moon Orchid to California to confront her husband would improve the situation.
-Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)