Autobiography as Guided Chinatown Tour.docx

Autobiography as Guided Chinatown Tour.docx

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AutobiographyasGuidedChinatownTour

Sau-lingCynthiaWong,"AutobiographyasGuidedChinatownTour?

MaxineHongKingston'sTheWomanWarriorandtheChinese-AmericanAutobiographicalControversy,"inMulticulturalAutobiography:

AmericanLives,editedbyJamesRobertPayne,UniversityofTennesseePress,

1992,pp.248-79.

MaxineHongKingston'sautobiography,TheWomanWarrior,maybethebest-knowncontemporaryworkofAsian-Americanliterature.WinneroftheNationalBookCriticsCircleAwardforthebestbookofnonfictionpublishedin1976,TheWomanWarriorremainshealthilyinprintandonthereadinglistsofnumerouscollegecourses;excerptsfromitareroutinelyfeaturedinanthologieswithamulticulturalslant.ItissafetosaythatmanyreaderswhootherwisedonotconcernthemselveswithAsian-AmericanliteraturehavereadKingston'sbook.

Inspite--ormaybe,asweshallsee,because--ofitsgeneralpopularity,however,TheWomanWarriorhasbynomeansbeenreceivedwithunqualifiedenthusiasmbyKingston'sfellowChineseAmericans.AnumberofChinese-AmericancriticshaverepeatedlydenouncedTheWomanWarrior,questioningitsautobiographicstatus,itsauthenticity,itsrepresentativeness,andtherebyKingston'spersonalintegrity.Thoughoftencouchedintheemotionallycharged,attimesopenlyaccusatory,languagecharacteristicofwhattheChinesecall"penwars,"thecriticalissuesraisedinthisdebatearenotmerelyofpassinginterest.Rather,theylieattheheartofanytheoreticaldiscussionofethnicAmericanautobiographyinparticularandethnicAmericanliteratureingeneral.Itwouldthereforebeinstructivetosetoutthetermsofthecontroversyandexploretheirtheoreticalramifications,withaviewtounderstandingthenatureofKingston'snarrativeenterpriseinTheWomanWarrior.

ThemostfundamentalobjectiontoTheWomanWarriorconcernsitsgenericstatus:

itsbeingbilledasautobiographyratherthanfiction,whensomuchofthebookdepartsfromthepopulardefinitionofautobiographyasanunadornedfactualaccountofaperson'sownlife.RespondingtoafavorablereviewofthebookbyDianeJohnsonintheNewYorkReviewofBooks,JefferyChannotes[in"JeffChan,ChairmanofSFStateAsianAmericanStudies,AttacksReview,"SanFranciscoJournal,May4,1977]how"awhitereadingpublicwillraveoverethnicbiographywhileignoringaChineseAmerican'sliteraryart"andattacksKnopf,"awhitepublishinghouse,"for"distributinganobviousfictionforfact."ThethrustofChan'smessageisthattheautobiographicallabelisamarketingployinwhichtheauthor,toherdiscredit,hasacquiesced.Chan'sstrictureisechoedbyBenjaminTong,whofindsTheWomanWarrior"obviouslycontrived,"aworkof"fictionpassingforautobiography"["CriticofAdmirerSeesDumbRacist,"SanFranciscoJournal,May11,1977].Bywayofcontrast,whiletheunusualgenericstatusofTheWomanWarriorisalsowidelynotedbynon-Chinese-Americancritics,itisseldomcitedaseitheraweaknessoramatterofpersonal,asopposedtoartistic,purpose.

HowfarisKingstonpersonallyresponsibleforthenonfictionlabelonthecoversofTheWomanWarrior?

Accordingtoher,verylittle:

TheonlycorrespondenceIhadwiththepublisherconcerningtheclassification

ofmybookswasthathesaidthatNon-fictionwouldbethemostaccurate

category;Non-fictionissuchacatch-allthateven"poetryisconsidered

non-fiction."

Andpoetryissomethinginwhosecompanyshewouldbe"flattered"toseeherbooks.Theentiremattermighthaverestedhere--butforsometheoreticalissuesraisedbythecontroversywhichcommandaninterestbeyondthetopical.

AlthoughKingston'sdetractorsdonotusetheterm,attheheartofthecontroversyisthequestionoffictionalization:

towhatextent"fictional"featuresareadmissibleinaworkthatpurportstobeanautobiography.TheChinese-AmericancriticsofTheWomanWarriorfocustheirattentiononthesocialeffectsofadmittingfictionalizationintoanautobiographicalwork.Theirconcern,variouslyworded,issummedupmostconcisely,ifbaldly,byKatherynFong:

IreadyourreferencestomythicalandfeudalChinaasfiction..

..Yourfantasystoriesareembellishedversionsofyourmother's

embellishedversionsofstories.Asfiction,thesestoriesarecreatively

writtenwithgraphicimageryandemotion.Theproblemisthatnon-Chinese

arereadingyourfictionastrueaccountsofChineseandChinese

Americanhistory.["ToMaxineHongKingston:

ALetter,"Bulletin

forConcernedAsianScholars,Vol.9,No.4,1977]

Thusstated,theWomanWarrior"problem"isseentorestultimatelyonthereaders,nottheauthor;thebasisfordenouncingTheWomanWarriorispragmatic,response-contingent,andreader-specific.Why,then,hasKingstonbeenimplicatedatallinthemisreadingsofheraudience?

Itispossibletorejecttheveryquestionasirrelevant,inthatauthorshavelittlecontroloverhowtheirpublishedworkswillberead.Ontheotherhand,whencriticslikeChan,Tong,orFongholdKingstonresponsibleforherreaders'failings,theydosofromasetofassumptionsaboutethnicliteraturethataregroundedinakeenawarenessofthesociopoliticalcontextofminorityliterarycreation.Suchanawarenessispreciselywhatismissinginmanywhitereviewers'remarksonTheWomanWarrior;moreover,theautobiographicalgenre,withitspromise（perceivedorreal）of"truthfulness,"bynatureencouragespreoccupationwithawork'ssociopoliticalcontext.Thusthechargeofunwarrantedfictionalizationmustbeaddressed.

TheWomanWarriorcanbeconsideredfictionalizedinanumberofways.Onthemostobviousformallevel,itviolatesthepopularperceptionofautobiographyasanorderedshapingoflifeeventsanchoredintheso-calledexternalworld.ItaimsatcreatingwhatJamesOlneycalls"arealmoforderwhereeventsbeartooneanotherarelationshipofsignificanceratherthanofchronology"["SomeVersionsofMemory/SomeVersionsofBios:

TheOntologyofAutobiography,"Autobiography:

EssaysTheoreticalandCritical,1980].Accordingtoanearlystudentofthegenre,autobiographiesmustcontain,"insomemeasure,thegermofadescriptionofthemannersoftheirtimes"[RoyPascal,DesignandTruthinAutobiography,1960].Althoughrecentscholarshavefoundthereferentialgroundingofautobiographymuchmoreproblematicanditsdefiningessencemuchmoreelusive[e.g.,Olney,"AutobiographyandtheCulturalMoment:

AThematic,Historical,andBibliographicalIntroduction,"Autobiography;ElizabethBruss,AutobiographicalActs:

TheChangingSituationofaLiteraryGenre,1976;JohnPaulEakin,FictionsinAutobiography:

StudiesintheArtofSelf-Invention,1985],thetermautobiographyusuallydoesevoke,atleastamonggeneralreaders,achronologicallysequencedaccountwithverifiablereferencestoplaces,people,andevents.Asonecriticputsit,inmoreabstruselanguage:

"Textsboundbytherealinsistuponanepistemologicalstatusdifferentfromworksoftheimaginationinwhichtherealismorenearlyhypothetical"[ArnoldKrupat,"TheIndianAutobiography:

Origins,Type,andFunction,"AmericanLiterature,Vol.53,No.1,1981].Butwhatifthe"real"thatanautobiographyisboundbyisthe"imagination"oftheprotagonist?

ThisisthethornyproblemofgenericdifferentiationposedbyTheWomanWarrior.

Byanoutwardlyorienteddefinitionofautobiography,TheWomanWarriorisatbestonlynominallyautobiographical:

toborrowaphrasefromPascal,itisawork"soengrossedwiththeinnerlifethattheouterworldbecomesblurred,"toldbyanarratorwho,asachild,regularlysees"freemovies"on"blankwalls"and"[t]alkstopeoplethataren'trealinside[her]mind."Theproseslipsfromthesubjunctivetothedeclarativewithbuttheslightestwarning:

theNoNameWomanstorybeginswithperhaps'sandcouldhavebeen'sbutsoondispenseswiththeseremindersofconjecture.Likewise,whiletheFaMuLansegmentin"WhiteTigers"isinitiallymarkedasanenumerationofthepossibleanddesirable--"Thecallwouldcomefromabird....Thebirdwouldcrossthesun....Iwouldbealittlegirlofseven...."（myitalics）--thebulkofthenarrationisinthesimplepasttense,asifrecountingcompletedeventsintheactualworld.TwodivergentaccountsaregivenofBraveOrchid'sencounterwiththeSittingGhost,neitherofwhichcouldhavebeendefinitivesincetheevent（orallegedevent）predatesthebirthofthedaughter/narrator."AttheWesternPalace,"presentedasadeceptivelyconventional,self-containedshortstory,isrevealedinthenextchaptertobeathird-handfiction.Inshort,thereferentialgroundingofTheWomanWarrioristenuousandpresentedinapotentiallymisleadingmanner.Afewpublicplacesandeventsinthe"outer"worldarerecognizablefromwhatweknowaboutauthorKingston'slife;allelseisrecollection,speculation,reflection,meditation,imagination.Verifiabilityisvirtuallyoutofthequestioninaworksoself-reflexive.Presumably,then,readerswhodonotpaysufficientattentiontothenarrativeintricaciesofTheWomanWarrior,especiallywhitereaderswithbiasedexpectations,willmistakefictionforfact.

ThecriticsofTheWomanWarrioralsodetectfictionalization—inthesenseof"makingthingsup"--inthewayKingstonhaschosentotranslatecertainChineseterms.Acentralexampleisthewordghost,basedonCantonesekueiorgwai,akeyterminthebookappearinginthesubtitleaswellasseveralimportantepisodes.Kingstonrenderskueiasghost.ChanandTong（"CriticofAdmirer"）,whileconcedingthatthecharactercanindeedmean"ghost"（asin"spiritofthedead"）,insistthatitbetranslatedasdemon（ordevil