I just finished Mambo in Chinatown by Jean
Kwok which definitely has the feel of her earlier work, Girl in
Translation – it is also about a poor immigrant girl with little
support from parents (e.g., when school suggests she is dyslexic, Dad is too
intimidated to find out more). In Mambo in Chinatown the Dad
is more tied to another culture and is not able to help his child assimilate
successfully. Instead, the main character, Charlie, makes her own way by
pursuing work at a dance company, a setting which Kwok evokes with some
interesting descriptions. Jean Kwok is a
very approachable author and I enjoy her books. However, I felt that this one
could have relied less on coincidences and done more to help the reader understand
certain cultural aspects such as tenacious respect for elders particularly
since I was so very frustrated for Charlie and her lack of opportunities and
adult support. Maybe it is just that I
did not fully appreciate how hard it was for Charlie to break away from her
parents' culture?
I have been thinking quite a bit about immigration and
assimilation because as I was simultaneously reading a non-fiction work, A
Chinaman’s Chance by Eric Liu, which I found to be a MUCH more
entertaining and informative read. Consider simply the section, “A Guide to
Punctuation,” where he comments on the impact of describing Americans of Chinese
ethnicity in these different ways:
- Chinese-American
- Chinese / American
- Chinese, American
- Chinese (American)
- (Chinese) American or
- Chinese American
I think that my students, particularly those who are first
or second generation Americans of ANY ethnicity, will find A
Chinaman’s Chance to be a fascinating read. Applying Liu’s research to
their own lives or to fictionalized accounts like those by Jean Kwok or Amy Tan
will give them much to contemplate. They
could also pair it with works by Maxine Kingston Hong or with Gene Luen Yang’s
graphic novel American Born Chinese. In fact, our Senior Writers
Seminar students already read American Born Chinese and I am
excited that one of our teachers is considering including A Chinaman’s
Chance on that syllabus. A former Presidential speechwriter turned educator, Eric Liu is a very conversational and personable
writer – I learned much and enjoyed the way he wove stories about his own
family and about historical figures and events (like the Chinese Exclusion Act
of 1882) into his argument. He also includes a very extensive bibliography for
further reference. This is a book that I hope to find time to re-read and to reflect
upon further; it is one of the best of the year for me so far.
