What’s up in Asian Contemporary literature?
When thinking of contemporary Asian literature the first thing you may have in mind would be that book that became an acclaimed movie about the life of servitude and forbidden love of a women who dedicated herself to the arts and entertainment of men. If you are referring to Memoirs of a Geisha to illustrate Asian literature then think again. This marvelous dossier about Japanese society before WWII was written by Arthur Golden. However its huge success did have an impact on the Oriental image as this American novel set a new trend and interest in our reads worldwide.
Picking a book randomly in a library I found Ha Jin. In the Bridegroom he depicts with incredible talent a post-Cultural Revolution China and the changing conditions of its people’s daily lives. Every story has a twist linked to a similar theme as in “things are not always are what they seem”. Interpretation is always personal of course but one can understand a fair criticism of the unrealistic communist peace and welfare ideals. As those are illustrated as shockingly absurd in the events occurring in the stories, it is a fun read and a beautiful peace of work.
What do I like about Asian literature nowadays? It is the poise, the poetry and its genre that attracts me. I have never found anything like it in western literature. It is like a bridge to an unknown world. That is what I found in Blind willow, sleeping woman by H. Murakami. The words flow in a delicate poetic ensemble that makes your intellect disconnect completely with the exterior. Therefore you feel the book, and you understand the narrator as if he was talking to you in person. Just like a magic spell while reading, an invisible hand invites you to step in and be part of an experience. One not to miss is Kafka by the shore by Murakami. It is insanely powerful, controversial and fascinating.
The power of the Asian culture is so different to ours though it translates well giving us a chance to understand it. Never in my life have I experienced such an agreeable read. Maybe the fact that their writing system, transcribing the art of calligraphy and poetry through a diversity of meanings, is so estranged to ours explains it. However it is enchanting to see that the past can be felt in each of their words, references or metaphors. Although I don’t assume that they are all alike, I do understand however the impact the culture and tradition has in the shaping of their sentences and stories, almost in a lyrical way.
The woman warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston is an example at that. Although she is a Chinese American she uses traditional legends and references to her ancestor’s culture as a form of story telling. Using as well personal happenings, family tragedies and rumors she invites the reader to a discuss gender and ethnicity. Taking us to the past and back to the present to lead us to an understanding of what future will behold to a world of mixed heritages.
About contemporary Asian literature what strikes me is this encounter of cultures that is illustrated. While nowadays the East opens to the West, it depicts a new horizon that is set on the basis of tradition. Questioning the impact of the occidental world that imposes itself in their life and culture, I believe that Asian authors understand far more than anyone else what globalization is doing, sculpting a new eye to the world’s population towards a culture where borders a less than obvious.
Kami No Shizuki’s Tears of God is a big hit in Asia these days and will soon become a movie. This illustrated book in the Manga style can be seen as the embodiment of a new wave. Wine is the key element to this series of fifteen volumes. No superpowers are involved only a quest, a battle and a prize while two sons fight for the heritage left by their wine specialist of a father. However the only way to get a hold of it is to find the wine he would define as the tears of God. No need to remind anyone that other than Sake, wine is not a very Asian label therefore it does count as an intriguing share of world cultures.
However this is not it. I also see pride in these mixed pages. Although Occidentalism is imposing itself everywhere as being a norm, through writing I feel as if these authors were proud to present a welcoming wave to Western civilization though being shaped into fitting to their standards.
However, not to be too much of an idealist I have to say that others also put forward the bad effects it brings to their country. Of course to make a generalization on this topic would a grave error though in my opinion it is a point that should not be left unsaid. Throughout my reads I happen to have seen several winks to these effects. In Shanghai Baby by Wei Hu, while a young woman writes her first novel she narrates her life and doings. Through her eyes we discover Shanghai and the western imposition, mostly associated with perversion or perverting but all in good harmony. Seems contradictory to you? You’ll see…
Therefore, have a peak to other writers than those you can be accustomed to and hunt for the unknown. Throughout these pages you’ll get an exotic feel of another place that does not feel like the ones we are accustomed to.
