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2019 Midterm1
(assignment) |
LITR 4340
American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Lauren Kruse
5 March 2019
Immigrant and Minority Narratives: The Stories of a Lifetime
My initial understanding of the immigrant and
minority narratives were rather elementary and I will admit to having previously
conflating the two.
Immigrants, however, as noted for the purposes
of this course, are individuals who come to America from other countries
by their own choice, among other
characteristics.
Minorities,
on the other hand, are individuals who have come to America
not of their own will, such as the
African slaves; or as in the case of American Indian and Inuit peoples, they
were already inhabiting the land before it became America, thus having no choice
in the matter.
Immigrants and minorities resemble each other,
however, in that they both experience discrimination and rejection at some
point, on behalf of the dominant culture.
At a later phase in these narratives,
immigrants and minorities will again differ as they approach the issue of
assimilation.
While the immigrant will assimilate to the
dominant culture, and embody the values and ideals of the “American Dream,” the
minority will tend to reject assimilation and any influence of the dominant
culture.
The immigrant narrative, as mentioned above,
begins with choice.
The initial choice to leave the homeland
(whether for adventure, career, or safety) is the first phase of the narrative,
intertwining with the following phase - the voyage to America.
Though a potentially difficult time of leaving
behind family and familiarity, for the immigrant, this is also an exciting time
of promised hopes and dreams.
In the opening lines of
In the Land of the Free, Hom Hing’s
words of promise to her son as they arrive in San Francisco, tell of the
immigrant’s hope upon entering American borders - “See, Little One - the hills
in the morning sun.
There is thy happy home for years to come.
It is very beautiful and thou wilt be very
happy there,” (IV, p. 3).
A sharp contrast to Hom Hing’s hope and
excitement upon arrival, is the story of Olaudah Equiano.
Equiano, a young boy captured and taken from
his home in Benin, and thrown into the slave trade, exemplifies the minority
narrative in that he does not choose to go to America.
In fact, he is terrified and appalled as he
encounters the abuse and atrocities of slavery.
In The
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano...The African,
Equiano’s tellings of his arrival to Virginia are that he, “...had no person to
speak to that [he] could understand.” Far from the hopeful dreams of the
immigrant, Equiano spent his time in Virginia, “...constantly grieving and
pining, and wishing for death rather than anything else,” (Ch. 3, par. 2).
Once immigrants arrive in America, and begin
to settle in, their narratives begin to show similarities to that of the
minority narrative.
During the third stage, immigrants will
typically experience forms of discrimination and resistance from the dominant
culture.
This resistance may be driven by racial and
ethnic tensions, or is perhaps due to cultural differences.
Le Ly Hayslip writes of the discrimination she
experienced after immigrating from Vietnam during the Vietnam war in her memoir
Child
of War, Woman of Peace.
During a trip to the grocery store,
Hayslip encounters a young clerk who looked at her with a look of, “...hate and
fear and sorrow all mixed,” (IV, p. 110,111) Trying to think of why he might
look at her with eyes like “glowing embers,” Hayslip wrestles with her past in
Vietnam and the tensions of war and grief.
Later, Hayslip struggles to gain the
acceptance of her husband’s family, only to face resistance at every turn.
“I redoubled my efforts to impress Leatha and
Erma in the only way I knew - by working harder and longer than anyone, but this
tactic only widened the gap between us,” (IV, p. 114).
From matters of house-cleaning and
child-rearing, to preparing meals, no matter how hard she tried to assimilate it
did not seem to be recognized or accepted.
Similarly, minorities often face
discrimination/resistance from the dominant culture, such as in the case of
Equiano.
As an african slave, Equiano is bought and
sold as if he were horse-flesh, only ever intended to serve his purpose as a
slave; to work for others, for free, with little more than the basic necessities
for life. Patricia
Smith, an African American, writes in her poem Blonde White Women, of an
encounter with a school teacher as a young girl.
After embracing her teacher in a hug, Smith
recalls, “But when she pried / Me away, her cool blue eyes shining with /
righteousness and too much to touch / I saw how much she wanted to wash,” (Lines
42-45).
This simple encounter impacts the young Smith
profoundly, as she feels the rejection from this symbol of the dominant culture,
her teacher and idol.
After a time of rejection, the immigrant will then
turn to assimilation, as a means of procuring the “American Dream,”- success.
Buying into a social contract of sorts,
immigrants conclude that to succeed as an American, one must act like an
American.
Simply put, follow their rules and you too can
win the game.
One recurring point of assimilation is that of
the American standards for cleanliness and smell (or lack thereof).
In
Sandals in the Snow, Onyii Ihedigbo recalls, “When I was seven or eight
years old, kids used to whisper and say that I and my brothers smelled.”
The Ihedigbos go on to incorporate the use of
deodorant and shampoo (instead of just bar soap) as a means of assimilation.
As a long-term result of that encounter, Onyii
reveals her current sensitivity to smell, “I instantly want odors eliminated as
soon as I smell them,” (IV, p. 167).
Furthermore, the journey of assimilation
witnessed through Gish Jen’s In the
American Society, invites readers watch as the Chang family, having
immigrated from China, navigate the ups and downs of assimilation.
Ralph Chang, the patriarch of the family,
proudly proclaims, “Those Americans always saying it...Smart guys thinking in
advance,” as he takes over the pancake house as a way to afford sending his
daughters to college (IA, p. 159).
The rest of the family also embrace elements
of American society, as the daughters dress and talk like Americans and Mrs.
Chang develops opinions and ideas about “herself and about America, and about
what was what in general,” (IA, p. 159).
In contrast to the immigrant’s tendency to
assimilate, minorities will typically resist assimilation as a means of
protesting the dominant culture.
The most forceful example of this resistance
can be found in Chrystos’ poem, I Have
Not Signed a Treaty With the United States Government.
The opening line, the poem’s title, offers
clear resistance to the dominant culture.
Through the statement, “Therefore, we declare
the United States a crazy person / nightmare
lousy food ugly clothes bad meat / nobody we
know…” the reader can feel the disdain and resentment towards the dominant
culture’s influence from this American Indian’s perspective (Lines 5-7).
In the final lines of
Blonde White Women,
Patricia Smith comes to the realization that
she no longer wants to look like the “blonde white women” that she sees,
embracing her image as a African American, “I pulse, steady my eyes, / shake the
snow from my short black hair, / and suddenly I am surrounded by snarling
madonnas / demanding that I explain / my treachery,” (Lines 57-61).
The final phase of the immigrant story can be
evidenced several generations later, as there is typically a rediscovery of
one’s ethnic identity.
This may come through mere curiosity or a
desire to maintain a connection to cultural roots; either through learning the
native language, observing cultural holidays, or even food.
Learning to recognize and appreciate the difference
between the immigrant and minority narratives has been an intriguing opportunity
for me, and one which I am looking forward to continuing.
I am learning to recognize that there are no
absolutes in either journey and much like the narrative of grief, there is not a
concrete timeline or sequence for either narrative.
Many of the stories encountered thus far in
this course, have demonstrated that immigrants might face rejection at one
moment, yet in the next they are assimilating, only to experience rejection at
the following turn.
Likewise, minorities struggle with the
experience of discrimination, assimilation and rejecting assimilation throughout
their life.
After all, they are living out the immigrant
and minority narratives, and their
stories never end.
