Cutting_the_Tongue
Transcript of Cutting_the_Tongue
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CuttingtheTongue:Bilingualism
andtheDiscoveryofVoicein
RichardRodriguez'HungerofMemoryand
MaxineHongKingston'sWomanWarrior
I
Writers (andteachers of wr it ing) oftenspeakof thed iscoveryof voice. For a
creat ive wr iter , f indingone's voice is a wayofnamingviametonymythat moment
whenanauthor d iscovers auniquestyle andsubject and, no longer needingto
imitate h is or her masters , learns to speak in apersonal voice. (An imposs ib i l i ty, of
course, weare now ledto bel ieve, in th is ageof thedeathof theauthor andthe
anxietyof inf luencecreatedbypowerful ancestral texts!) For astudent , f inding
one's voice has several prerequis i tes: thedevelopment of a mindandthed iscovery
of one's own ideas, thedes ire for express ion, the fe lt needtodomorethan just
what theteacher wants andbecomeawr iter or speaker for i ts ownrewards,
Ordinar i ly , d iscoveryof voice takes p lace in a languagea languagewhichhas
adetermining inf luenceonthenatureof that voice. Evenwithout beingad isc ip le of
theSapir Whorfhypothesis , i t i s poss ib le to accept , i s i t not , that an individual 's
language, andan individual 's speechcommunity, haveaprofound inf luenceonthe
volumeandp itch, tenor andvehic le , content andstyleontheverysenseofse l fof
aspeaker or wr iter 's voice.
Proponents of Engl ish as anat ional languagewould, of course, havethat
languagebeEngl ish. For theb i l ingual , however , thed iscovery is compl icated. For the
b i l ingualRichardRodr iguezandMaxineHongKingstonthetongue is "cut": the
voice is d iv ided.
I I
Best knownfor h is controvers ial opposit ionto both
b i l ingual educat ionandaff i rmat ive act ionstandswhichhave
earnedh imthe incongruoussupport of manyontheAmerican
r ight , R ichardRodr iquez th inks of h imself , however , as "acomic
v ict imof twocultures" (Hunger 5) . "Thereare those in White
Americawhowouldannoint metop layout for themsomedrama
ofancestral reconci l iat ion" ( Hunger 5) . Here jects therole . His
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autobiography is insteadthestoryof aneducat ion, as i t f i rst words (and i ts
subst i t le) makec lear : " I havetakenCal iban's advice. I havestolentheir books. I wi l l
havesomerunof th is i s le" (Hunger 3) .
Hunger of Memory foregroundsthetwo languagesSpanishandEngl ishin
which i ts author 's l i fe has moved, g iv ing h is b i l ingual ismcenter stagewith another ,
interconnectedthemeofh is autobiography: themovement frompr ivate to publ ic
l i fe . Growingup in ab i l ingual wor ld, thesonofMexican immigrants , Rodr iguez
"remainedc lo isteredbysounds, t imidandshy in publ ic , toodependent onvoices at
home."Thoughadmittedly"anextremelyhappychi ld at home" ( Hunger 17), he knew
noneof thecommongradat ionsbetweenpubl ic andpr ivate: outs idewaspubl ic ;
ins idewaspr ivate. "Just openingor c los ing thescreendoor behindme,"herecal ls ,
"wasan important exper ience" ( Hunger 1617). In amemorable passage, hedescr ibes
theanxiety that gr ippedthehouseevery t imethedoor bel l rang (17). As achi ld ,
Rodr iguezrecal ls , he "couldn't real ly bel ievethat Spanishwasapubl ic language, l ike
Engl ish" (16). " I wrongly imaginedthat Engl ish was intr ins ical ly a publ ic languageand
Spanishan intr ins ical ly pr ivate one" ( Hunger 20).
Thoughh is parents struggledwith Engl ish, their d i ff icu lt ies hadnoser ious
personal consequences, saveone: i t madetheir ch i ldrennervous, weakenedtheir
"c lutchingtrust in their protect ionandpower" ( Hunger 1415). His mother became
the"publ ic voice of the fami ly. Onoff ic ia l bus iness, i t wasshe, not myfather , one
wouldusual ly hear onthephoneor in stores, talking to strangers" ( Hunger 24). I t
wasshewhoansweredthedoorbel l . As chi ldren, Rodr iguezandh is brothers and
s isters cametoth inkof their father as shyandreserved, andyet memoryte l ls h imas
wel l that h is t imidness must havebeen in fact a cu ltural byproduct :
when I 'd watchh imspeakingSpanishwith re lat ives. Us ing Spanish, hewas
quicklyeffus ive. Especial ly whentalking with other men,h is voice would
spark, f l icker , f lare al ive with sounds. In Spanish, he
expressed ideas and feel ings herare ly revealed in Engl ish.
With f i rmSpanishsounds, heconveyedconfidenceand
author ityEngl ish wouldnever al lowhim. ( Hunger 25)
For Rodr iguezh imself , Engl ish wasat f i rst equal ly d i ff icu lt
and int imidat ing. "Mywords,"heremembers, "could not
stretch far enoughto formcomplete thoughts. Andthe
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words I d id speak I d idn't knowwel l enoughtomake intod ist inct sounds."Thoseto
whomhespokeas achi ld , herecal ls , "wouldusual ly lower their heads, better to
hear what I was trying to say" ( Hunger 14).
Thoughh is parents encouragedh imtomaster Engl ish more fu l ly thanwould
ever beposs ib le for them, ("Speakto us in Ing les") , thoughtheythemselves gained
confidence from"thedramat ic Americanizat ionof their ch i ldren" ( Hunger 23), the
Spanishtheycont inuedtospeekat homeengenderedaconfus ionof realms.
myparents [Rodr iguezremembers] wouldsaysomethingto meand I would
feel embracedbythesoundsof their words. Thosesoundssaid: " I am
speakingwith ease in Spanish. I amaddress ing you in words I never usewith
los gr ingos. I recognize youas someonespecial , c lose, l ike nooneouts ide.
Youbelongwith us. In the fami ly." ( Hunger 16)
Late in thebook, headmits that evenaccurate quotat ionmisrepresents h is parents '
forpr ivateconsumptiononlyspeech: "myparents donot t ru lyspeakonmypages. I
may forcetheir words to standbetweenquotat ionmarks. With everyword, however ,
I changewhat wassaid only to me" ( Hunger 186) .
For Rodr iguez, the languageofhomethusremainedtender andsoothing,
int imate, but theal ien languageof thestreet becameaperpetual reminder of h is
andh is fami ly 's strangeness. " I wasa l i s teningchi ld ," Rodr iguezrecal ls , "careful to
hear thed i fferent soundsofSpanishandEngl ish" ( Hunger 13):
I would . . . hear theh ighnasal notes of middlec lass Americanspeech. The
air st i r redwith sound. Sometimes, evennow,when I havebeentravel ing
abroad for several weeks, I wi l l hear what I heardas aboy. In hotel lobbies or
airports , in Turkeyor Brazi l , someAmericanswi l l pass , andsuddenly I wi l l
hear i t againtheh ighsoundofAmericanvoices. For a fewseconds, I wi l l
hear i t with p leasure, for i t i s nowthesoundofmysocietyareminder of
home. . . . When I wasaboy, th ings wered i fferent . Theaccent of los gr ingos
wasnever p leas ing nor was i t hardto hear . Crowdsat Safewayor at bus stops
wouldbenoisywith sound. And I wouldbe forcedto edgeaway fromthe
chirp ingchatter aboveme. (Hunger 14)
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The psycholog ica l e f fec ts of h i s l i s tening were indeedprofound. " I l ived in awor ld
magical ly compoundedofsounds,"Rodr iquezwr ites . " I remainedachi ld longer than
most ; I l ingeredtoo long, poisedat theedgeof languageoften fr ightenedbythe
soundsof los gr ingos, del ightedbythesoundsofSpanishat home. I sharedwith my
fami lya languagethat wasstart l ing lyd i fferent fromthat used in thegreat c i ty
aroundus" (Hunger 16). I t wasonlymuch later , he explains , that he learnedto fuse
thesoundofwordsandcontent; only later that languagebecametransparent
(Hunger 22).
His ownexper ienceof l iv ing in two languagecommunit ies l ies at theheart of
Rodr iguez' strongandcontrovers ial standagainst b i l ingual educat ion. "I t i s not
poss ib le ," he ins ists , "for ach i ldanychi ldever to useh is fami ly 's language in
school . Not to understandth is is to misunderstandthepubl ic uses of school ing and
to tr iv ia l ize thenatureof int imate l i feafami ly 's language" ( Hunger 12). As apubl ic
act , andnever "an inevitable or natural step in growingup" ( Hunger 48), educat ion
must takep lace in thepubl ic language. "Educat ion is a long, unglamorous, even
demeaningprocessanurtur ing never natural to thepersononewasbeforeone
enteredac lassroom"(Hunger 68) .
Admitt ing that i t wouldhavep leasedh imtohear Spanishspoken in school"I
wouldhave fe lt much less afraid. I would havetrustedthemandrespondedwith
ease"henevertheless recognizes that b i l ingual educat ion"wouldhavedelayedfor
how longpostponed?havingto learnthe languageofpubl ic society. I would have
evaded . . . learningthegreat lessonofschool , that I hadapubl ic ident ity." "What I
neededto learn in school ," h is adult se l f real izes , "wasthat I hadther ightandthe
obl igat iontospeakthepubl ic languageof los gr ingos" ( Hunger 19). "Theoddtruth
is ," Rodr iguezsuggests , "that myf i rst gradec lassmates could havebecomebi l ingual ,
in theconvent ional senseof that word, moreeas i ly than I ."
Hadtheybeentaught (as uppermiddlec lass ch i ldrenare oftentaught ear ly)
a second language l ike Spanishor French, theycould haveregarded i t s imply
as that : another publ ic language. In mycasesuchb i l ingual ismcould not have
beensoquicklyachieved. What I d id not bel ievewasthat I could speaka
s ing le publ ic language. (Hunger 19)
Rodr iguezrecal ls theverydayhed iscoveredh is publ ic voice.
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Oneday in school I ra isedmyhandtovolunteer ananswer. I spokeout in a
loudvoice. And I d id not th ink i t remarkable whentheent ire c lass
understood. That day, I movedvery far fromthed isadvantagedchi ld I had
beenonlydays ear l ier . Thebel ief, thecalmingassurancethat I be longed in
publ ic , hadat last takenhold. ( Hunger 22)
His growingpubl ic competence in Engl ish hadanestrangingeffect at home. Unable
for a t imeto"affordto admire h is parents ," hebeganto transfer h is a l leg ianceto h is
teachers (Hunger 49). Caught in i t ia l ly in h is own intercultural cognit ive d issonance,
he fe lt anger towardh is mother and father for havingpushedh imtowardc lassroom
success (Hunger 50). Often, hewouldh ide in h is room,"hoard[ ing] thep leasures of
learning"; whenSpanishspeakingre lat ives v is i ted, hewould leavethehouse"
(Hunger 51).
"Today I hear ab i l ingual educator say that ch i ldren loseadegreeof
' individual i ty ' bybecomingass imi lated intopubl ic society. . . . " Suchth inking, he
f inds, i s gross ly s impl ist ic : b i l ingual ists . . . scornthevalueandnecess ityof
ass imi lat ion. Theydonot seemtoreal ize that thereare twowaysaperson is
individual ized. Sotheydonot real ize that whi le onesuffers ad iminishedsenseof
pr ivate individual i ty bybecomingass imi lated intosociety, suchass imi lat ionmakes
poss ib le theachievement of publ ic individual i ty" ( Hunger 26) .
In their faci le equat ionofseparateness and individual i ty, b i l ingual ists
over lookthes imple fact that only in pr ivatewith int imatesis separateness
fromthecrowdaprerequis i te for individual i ty. (An int imatedrawsmeapart ,
te l ls methat I amunique, unl ike al l others . ) In publ ic , bycontrast , fu l l
individual i ty is achieved, paradoxical ly, by thosewhoare able to consider
themselves members of thecrowd. (Hunger 27)
For Rodr iquez, then, thegreat l ie of b i l ingual educat ion is s imply that i t wi l l "g ive
students asenseof their ident ityapart fromthepubl ic" ( Hunger 34).
I I I
While st i l l quite young, MaxineHongKingstonhadher tonguecut byher
mother . "Shepushedmytongueupands l icedthe frenum.Or maybeshesnipped i t
with apair of nai l sc issors" (Woman 190). This wasnoact of female uponfemale
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vio lencelike foot b indingor c l i tor idectomy. Nor was i t a fami lysecret : Kingston's
mother informedher uncomprehendingdaughter of thedeedear ly on, weavingthe
tale intothe fabr ic of her cont inuing"talkstory"melangeofChinesetradit ionand
fami lyh istory, f ict ionandnonf ict ion, assur ing her as wel l that , as theonlyone in
the fami ly in needofsuchtreatment, shealonereceived i t ( Woman 191). But the
act ionprovedtobethegreat connundrumofKingston's l i fe and, not surpr is ing ly,
providedthecontrol l ing metaphor of her autobiographynotto ment ionthepresent
essay.
"Sometimes,"Kingstonte l ls us , " I fe l t veryproudthat mymother committed
suchapowerful act uponme."But shealso foundhersel f terr i f iedthat "the f i rst
th ing mymother d id whenshesawmewasto cut mytongue" (Woman 190). " I used
to cur l upmytongue in front of themirror ," Kingstonrecal ls , "andtautenmyfrenum
intoawhite l ine, i tse l f as th in as a razor b lade. I sawnoscars in mymouth. I thought
perhaps I hadhadtwofrena, andshehadcut one. I madeother chi ldrenopentheir
mouthsso I could comparetheirs to mine. I sawperfect p inkmembranesstretching
intoprecise edges that lookedeasyenoughtocut"
(Woman 190). Throughout her chi ldhoodshe fe lt
deepsympathy for "thebabywhosemother waited
with sc issors or kni fe in handfor i t to cryand
then, when i ts mouthwaswideopen l ike ababy
b ird 's , cut" (Woman 190).
As achi ld , Kingstontr ied, unsuccessfu l ly, to
fathomher mother 's reasons. Awareofher
decidedlyunChinesetendencyto sayd isreputable
th ings out loud, shewondered i f "Maybemymother
wasafraid that I 'd say th ings l ike ["dogvomit"] out loudandsohadcut mytongue."
Or perhapsher tonguehadbeencut in anattemptto improveher awful voice. She
remembers her parents cal l ing in awealthyneighbor for her expert opin ion: "You
better dosomethingwith th is one . . . ," theWoman hadrecommended. "Shehas an
uglyvoice. Shequacks l ike apressedduck" ( Woman 223) .
Later , Kingstonconfrontedher mother d irect ly, seekingto understandthe
log ic of her assault .
"Whydid youdothat to me,Mother?"
"I to ld you."
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"Tel l meagain."
"I cut i t so that youwouldnot betonguet ied. Your tonguewouldbeable to
move in any language. You' l l be able to speak languages that are complete lyd i fferent
fromoneanother . You' l l be able to pronounceanything. Your frenum lookedtoo
t ight to dothoseth ings, so I cut i t ."
"But isn 't a readytongueanevi l?"Kingstonasks, c i t ing Chineseconvent ional
wisdom. "Things are d i fferent in th is ghost country," her mother repl ies ( Woman
19091). (The"ghosts" that Kingston's motherandthebook's subt it lerefer to are,
of course, other Americans; for Kingston's immigrant Chinese fami ly, everyonenot
ChineseGarbageCol lector Ghosts , Sales Ghosts , WinoGhosts , TaxCol lector Ghosts ,
BalckGhosts , Su itcase Inspector Ghosts , andTeacher Ghosts , etc.is not quite real . )
As weshal l see, Kingstoncamefor a t imetodoubt theeffect iveness of her mother 's
surgery, but in theendsheunderstandsandaccepts i ts intercultural wisdom.
WehaveseenhowSpanishbecameproblemat ic dur ing RichardRodr iguez'
ass imi lat ion, analbatross aroundtheneckof oneanxious to acquire anEngl ish
educat ion. Kingston's languageofor ig in becomesdownright embarrass ing. "Chinese
communicat ion,"Kingstonrecal ls , "was loud, publ ic ." ToChineseears , at least , the
language i tse l f canbeheard"fromblocks away" ( Woman 13, 199). (This qual i ty of
the languagehas c lear ly ident i f iable or ig ins: "The immigrants I know,"sheexplains ,
"have loudvoices, unmodulatedto Americantonesevenafter years away fromthe
vi l lagewheretheycal ledtheir fr iendships out across the f ie lds" [ Woman 12] . )
But , sheconfesses, " I t i sn 't just the loudness" that bothers her .
I t i s thewayChinesesounds, ch ingchongugly, to Americanears , not beaut i fu l
l ike Japanesesayonarawordswith theconsonants andvowels as regular as
I tal ian. Wemakeguttural peasant noises andTonDucThangnamesyoucan't
remember. (Woman 199)
Engl ish, however , i s in i t ia l ly equal ly perplexingas i t was for RichardRodr iquez: the
Chinesethemselves, Kingstonexplains , "can't hear Americansat a l l : the language is
toosoft . . . " (Woman 199), and"AmericanChineseg ir ls ," seekingto imitate thehost
cu lture 's ways, "hadto whisper to make [ themselves] Americanfeminine."The
attempt, shete l ls us , was largelyunsuccessfu l , for in their invent ionof"an
Americanfemininespeakingpersonal i ty," theybecametotal ly inaudib le ( Woman
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199200). ThoughKingstonwassometimesable to f indher voice at Chineseschool ,
for themost part sheremaineds i lent , d isgustedbyher voice: "acr ippledanimal
runningonbroken legs. Youhear sp l inters in myvoice, bonesrubbing jaggedagainst
oneanother" (Woman 196) .
Kingston's great d i ff icu lt ies with us ing Engl ish in publ ic causeher to wonder i f
her mother 's surgeryhadnot beenradical enough, i f
sheshould havecut more, scrapedawaytherest of the frenumskin, because I
havea terr ib le t imetalking. . . . When I went to kindergartenandhadto
speakEngl ish for the f i rst t ime, I becames i lent . A dumbnessashamesti l l
cracks myvoice in two,evenwhen I want to say"hel lo"casual ly, or askan
easyquest ion in front of thecheckout counter , or askd irect ions of a bus
dr iver . I s tand frozen, or I hold upthe l ine with thecomplete grammatical
sensethat comessqueakingout at imposs ib le length. "What d id yousay?"
says thecabdr iver , or "Speakup,"so I haveto performagain, onlyweaker
thesecondt ime. A te lephonecal l makesmythroat b leedandtakes upthat
day's courage. I t spoi ls mydaywith se l fd isgust when I hear mybrokenvoice
comeskit ter ing out intotheopen. I t makespeople winceto hear i t . (Woman
191)
Thesourceofher s i lence, however , i s morethanphysio logical . Cultural forces are at
work. She f inds hersel f unable to talkabout her fami ly 's past evenbeforeher
favor ite teacher: "Mythroat cut off thewordssi lence in front of themost
understandingteacher . Thereweresecrets never to besaid in front of theghosts ,
immigrat ionsecrets whosete l l ing could get us sent backto China" ( Woman 213) .
"Other Chineseg ir ls ," Kingstonacknowledges, "d id not talke i ther , so I knewthe
s i lencehadto dowith beingaChineseg ir l" (Woman 193).
As shedescr ibes in a lengthyvignette, KingstononceattackedaChinese
c lassmatewhorefusedto talkat a l l , project ing al l her ownanxiet ies , personal and
cultural , about publ ic speechontoher . " 'You're goingto talk, ' I said , myvoice,
steadyandnormal , as i t i s whentalking to the fami l iar , theweak, andthesmal l . ' I
amgoingto makeyoutalk, yous issyg ir l . '" After tortur ing her in aschool lavatory,
shehersel f becamemyster iously i l l for e ighteenmonths. After her i l lness , though,
nothingchanged. Ventur ing outs ide, intothepubl ic wor ld, sheagain confrontedher
central problem.
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Theskyandthetrees, thesunwere immenseno longer framedbyawindow,
no longer grayedwith a f ly screen. I sat downonthes idewalk in amazement
then ights , thestars . But at school I hadto f igure out again howtotalk.
(Woman 212)
L ike Hungerof Memory , WomanWarr io r i s c lear ly thestoryof a b i l ingual ethnic
American's struggle to f indapubl ic voice.
Throughout that struggle , Kingstonkept a recordof the in just ices she
sufffered: "Maybebecause I was theonewith thetonguecut loose, I hadgrown
ins1demea l i s t of over twohundredth ings that I hadto te l l mymother so that she
wouldknowthetrueth ings about meandtostopthepain in mythroat ." This l i s t
wasnot kept out of sp ite; i ts d isc losure, shehoped,wouldbr ing her muchmorethan
revenge. Givenvoice, i t wouldproveto be, shedreamed,nothing less thanan
intercultural talking cure: "I f only I could let mymother knowthe l i st , sheandthe
wor ldwouldbecomemore l ike me,and I wouldnever bealoneagain" ( Woman 229) .
In Woman Warr io r ' s f inal chapter , shete l ls of a
n ight in the fami ly laundry, in themidst of a hurr iedly
eatenworkingd inner , whenher "throat burst open"
(Woman 233)andshe f inal ly del iveredher l i s t . Foremost
amongher complaints , of course, washer mother 's cutt ing
of her tongue. "Youcan't stopmefromtalking,"she
screams. "Youtr iedto cut off mytongue, but i t d idn't
work.""I cut i t ," her mother repl ies , "to makeyoutalk
more, not less , youdummy" (Woman 235). As anadult ,
evenafter her talking cure, Kingstonadmits , her "throat
pain alwaysreturns,"unless , that is , sheuses her newly
d iscoveredvoice, "unless I te l l what I real ly th ink, whether
or not I lose my jobor sp it out gaucher ies al l over aparty. I 've stoppedchecking
'b i l ingual ' on jobappl icat ions" (Woman 239) .
IV
AttheendofWoman Warr io r , after noapparent trans it ion, Kingstonre lates
thestoryof Ts 'ai Yen, a Chinesepoetess born in thesecondcenturyA.D. whowas
held in capt iv i tybyabarbar iantr ibe. In her l i fe with thesepr imit ives, who, to
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Chineseeyes, werenot evenhuman, legendhas i t Ts 'ai Yen f inal ly foundthemeans
to create apoetry that accompaniedtheir own indig inousmusic, p layedonreed
p ipes.
"Themusic d isturbedTsai Yen,"Kingstonexplains , addingher ownvoice to a
story to ld throughout Chineseh istory; " i ts sharpness and i ts cold madeher ache. I t
d isturbedher so that shecould not concentrate onher ownthoughts" (243). Though
thesongsshes ings te l l a tale of longing for theMiddle Kingdom,of her nostalg ia for
home, theyattain nevertheless akindofuniversal i ty: "Her word, Kingstonexplains ,
"seemedtobeChinese, but thebarbar ians understoodtheir sadness andanger ."
"Sometimes, Kingston,"adds, her captors even"thought theycould catchbarbar ian
phrases about forever wander ing."F inal ly rans med,Tsai Yenreturnedhome. Again
Chinese, again human,nowshecrosspol lenated in theother d irect ion, seedingher
ownpoet ic t radit ionwith themusic of thebarbar ians, br ing ing"her songsback from
thesavage lands. . . . " Themost famousofher barbar ian inf luencedpoemswas
cal led" 'E ighteenStanzas for aBarbar ianReedPipe,"a song, Kingstonte l ls us in the
book's last l ine, whichthe"Chineses ing to their own instruments. I t t rans latedwel l"
(Woman 243) .
BothRodr iguezandKingston"translate wel l ." Rodr iguez' vers ionhas trag ic
e lements: "Mystory," Rodr iguezwr ites , "d isc loses . . . an essent ial mythof
ch i ldhoodinevitable pain. I f I rehearseherethechanges in mypr ivate l i fe after my
Americanizat ion, i t i s f inal ly to emphasize thepubl ic gain. The loss impl ies thegain"
(Hunger 27). Kingston's is essent ial ly comic; "Evennow,"shewr ites , in a
character ist ic passage, "Chinawrapsdouble b indsaroundmyfeet ." Woman Warr io r
f inds the imaginat ive meansto untangle them."Writ ing in the"nat ional language,"
bothd iscover their voice with in i t ; s ing their ownstor ies of ass imi lat ionto a fore ign
music, f indawayeven in their capt iv i ty to te l l of their ownsadness andanger with
suchpower and ins ight that evenmembers of thedominant culture can ident i fy with
their stor ies .