The most apparent illustration of double-consciousness in the texts by Sui Sin Far and Onoto Watanna were shown in the language of the characters in both stories. Both authors use dialogue to show the obvious difference between natural-born Americans and immigrants. In Sui Sin Far's story, Lae Choo and her husband use broken English, often omitting words from their sentences. This is shown on page 303 of the text when Lae Choo says to the lawyer, "What that you say?" This is an interesting juxtaposition of the characters because the educated lawyer and the Chinese immigrant mother have a conversation where their language is a clear difference between them.
The same is true in Watanna's story when Okikusan speaks to her father. Watanna has done a great job of writing the language exactly as it would be spoken. The Japanese accent is very audible throughout the story, and it is furhter emphasized because Okikusan speaks this broken English while she is in her own country. It shows ho great the American influence on Asia really was becuase people, even in Asia, see American people and speak to them in whatever English they know.
Both of the characters, Lae Choo and Okikusan, are accutely aware of their differences from Americans, and they both have this double-consciousness and awareness of themselves as they attempt to belong to one culture. They both hear their differences in the way they speak English, and they both see them in the way they look. Okikusan's circumstance is a little different however because she has the brown, curly hair of an American woman and the facial characteristics of a Japanese woman.
No comments:
Post a Comment