Otherness (work in progress)

“People (I should put that word in quotes) visit (another quotable) the Dominican Republic because they want to experience certain kinds of packaged otherness…”-Junot Diaz, interview in
Junot Diaz strongly evokes a constant state of “otherness,” an alienation from culture and nation, character and identity, and even a sense of distance between the reader and the novel.
In an essay by Homi Bhabha entitled “Of Mimicry and Men: Ambivalence in Colonial Discourse,” colonialism is viewed as a particular brand of domination which operates on two levels: a mental or psychological level, and a physical or hegemonic level. The colonized become inferior to those empowered, “castrated” (Bhabha 131). The disempowered are left with a double consciousness –racially, culturally and nationally.
The colonization of the mind and spirit of the Dominican people lives in the superstitious curse known as fuku. But, Diaz uses the fuku as a tool to trace the people’s misfortunes back to Christopher Columbus, Africa and the ideal concept of colonization. In The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the curse can be interpretated as magical realism but in reality, colonial aftermath is present in assimilation or in the Americanization of Lola and Oscar.
For Bhabha, language is the primary vehicle of domination. It carries culture: law, custom, conduct, social class, and more. Therefore, language must be used against itself. By mimicking the colonizer, the boundaries between who is, and who is not powerful blur. But, it is tricky not to replicate new forms of totality. Ownership is a difficult power to dodge, but Junot Diaz excels masterfully in this novel.
“In my youth the only people who really seemed to be interested in exploring dictatorlike figures were the fantasy and science fiction writers, the comic-book artists. You didn’t see much about that aspect of the world in the mainstream culture, so as a kid who was the child of a dictatorship I had to find analogs in the genres, and since that was the language that explained to me the scope and consequences that kind of power has on people (on myself), that was the language I deployed to explore those very questions in my own book,” –Junot Diaz, same interview mentioned in intro.
There is a complex use of language ranging from: spanglish sentences, untranslatable phrases, science fiction references, colloquial vernaculars, superstitions, curses, sarcasm, historical footnotes, street slang, and even impressive English vocabulary. Enough to make the reader overwhelmed? In an interview with Junot Diaz, he says he wrote the book to make the reader feel like an immigrant “unable to understand huge chunks of the language…which provokes action to want to know.” As the de Leon familia move to New York from the D.R., so shall the reader. It takes an immigrant “enormous imagination and tremendous patience and strength to pick up a new language,” and this concept of unintelligibility is what the writer evokes in the reader. Junot Diaz uses the language of colonialism against itself. It takes incredible conditioning to learn something new, especially of a different culture, and this is where Oscar and all the other main characters are- in between two fixed states, in a zone of otherness, lost in translations and interpretations.
Diaz tells the story of Oscar Wao, not in chronological order, nor with any insight into the mind of Oscar, but with distant narrative structure. The narrator is a secondary character whom the readers meet towards the middle. (Think about the reader experience if the story was told from beginning to end in order). In this style, Diaz uses his authority to exert a dictorial way of telling his readers the life of Oscar Wao. Diaz mimics Trujillo by acting dictator of the book, of how the story unfolds. In fact, the title is misleading in that most of the book is dedicated to three generations of the de Leon women, also connected to the generations of the U.S. backed dictatorship.
The alienation of the women in each difficult era of Trujillo’s reign is shown in the physical and psychological issues each woman deals with.
(Compare and Contrast Belicia and Lola’s lives by looking at their physical appearance, experiences as teenagers, and beliefs. And Lola as the example of the Diaspora generation as someone who moves around regularly.)
Observe the race/color & social acceptance, the differences in sexual and family love (as polluted by the reign of the infamous dictator), and how power affects every one, generation, writer, tyrannical literature, stereotypes and expectations…

how to zafa your writing

In the prologue, the narrator wonders if this book isn’t a zafa of sorts. As if writing this story (from the point of the narrator Yunior) counters the curse itself. But, all the history and stories in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are all from a specific perspective in which the readers can not question. It is in it’s storytelling a form of dictatorship. And since the narrators in the book are all historically Trujillo’s children, the readers are also a generation touched by the fuku. This is why Junot Diaz chose to open the book, as well as title it, with Oscar Wao: because he is the most relatable and modern character for a worldly audience. Oscar is always psychologically caught between two forces- America and Santo Domingo, sexual experience and virgin awkwardness which goes hand-in-hand with this nerdy love for reading and writing apocalyptic stories. And the only thing truly American about him is his weight. But as much focus as Oscar gets, Diaz says in an interview at the 2009 National Book Festival, that the book is more about the women- Beli, Lola, La Inca, the daughters of Abelard, Lola’s daughter. I guess he makes this point because readers forget about all the important characters in this novel. And also it is difficult to relate to strongly rebelliously over sexualized women of a specific culture during a violent time. Diaz is using the women as a vehicle to show the effects of Santo Domingo’s rough criminal history not only physically, but emotionally and sexually. Every one gives us a personal view into the history of Trujillo’s dictatorship. Can the constant state of violence effect generations after the death of Trujillo? It is a curse associated with Christopher Columbus’ representation of European colonialism, leading to emigration, and ultimately is also an effect of assimilation into America (the same country which backed Trujillo). It is more than superstitious violence contributing to the curse.
Diaz also talked about how being from a struggling race, it is expected for smart children to use their full potential to become doctors or invest in a profession in which it pays well to be smart. It is not possible to become an artist, a writer. This is an example of his own perspective of the cycle of poverty in first, second generation immigrants shows up as a possible effect of fuku. Then, in that perspective, writing about the experiences and stories of Santo Domingo can be a zafa, a counter to the fuku- exposing it. But, the narratives and personal accounts seen through the eyes of Abelard or La Inca (which may represent a time before Trujillo being that her name is intuitively native), show a glimpse into a time where poverty was not a factor to the Cabral family. It is during Beli’s story that we see the effects of the dictatorship on families in the poverty of Santo Domingo. Also, Oscar and Lola circle again in America. But since the book collects bit of personal attributes to Junot Diaz’s life and family, the book may as well end the ill-fated family. Diaz’s mother always wanted him to be a doctor, just like La Inca and Beli proudly make references to their children. It is a time for art! Reading and writing are survival techniques which have as many opportunities as a curse can. A curse is a superstitious myth which requires the listeners to suspend their realistic belief (sounds like fiction). The book can be a dictator, a history book, a chance to access personal accounts into another culture, and also a lesson in the arts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gu91htmDpM

Response 5

by Alora Young

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao begins with poetic imagery that is beautiful and formal, and that creates emotion in us instantly:

“They say it came from Africa, carried on the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles.”

The next paragraph, however, starts with “ain’t” and “shit” and how “Everybody knew someone who’d been eaten by a fukú”. This complete change of tone is just one demonstration of how Díaz uses language in this novel. He also commonly uses Spanish words and phrases, “big words [Oscar] had memorized only the day before” and sci-fi and comic book references, which, let’s be honest, are a language of their own too. Then there are the constant changes of tone. What we read about Oscar in Chapter One has an entirely different tone than what we read about his sister Lola in Chapter Two. Both, are again, very different from the tone we hear when learning about Oscar and Lola’s mother Beli in Chapter Three. This can be explained by the fact that each of these sections has a different person telling the story.

Oscar’s section is told from our narrator’s point of view. He achieves a somewhat informal tone, what with the swearing in both English and Spanish and all the ‘like’s and mostly casual footnotes. It’s a conversational tone that manages to stay just on the right side of charming. He makes the otherwise unlikeable Oscar likeable, poking fun at him in a way that shows he genuinely cares and worries about him, which makes us care about him. Then we move onto Lola’s story, which is written in first person. We assume that this is because Lola told our narrator the story this way, and he knew that conveying it to us the way she did to him would provoke the intended emotions. From Lola’s point of view, the swearing all but ceases to exist, while the Spanish continues to serve as a cultural reference and device in character development.

The different vernaculars used in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao not only establish character and setting and convey emotion, but they also serve the purpose of slightly alienating the reader. In an interview, Junot Díaz said that when reading this book you’re supposed to feel like an immigrant, as the characters are. It creates a connection that many people throughout the world, let alone white American readers could not find otherwise. Also, since this book is in a large part about a love of reading, Díaz commented that it highlights our ability to skip over things we don’t understand in books and just continue on, because that is a large part of reading. I think this use of language is very clever, and it has certainly given me a greater appreciation and desire to read this book through to conclusion.

Response 5

In the first half of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, the author uses many different techniques to make us understand where the characters are coming from. The first half of the book is split in three different parts: “Ghetto Nerd at the End of the World,” “Wildwood,” and “The Three Heartbreaks of Belicia Cabral”. Each part is about a different character, and each is narrated quite differently.

In “Ghetto Nerd at the End of the World” we learn about Oscar’s perspective on the world. But we don’t learn this through first person but in omniscient yet centered third person. Meaning it is all about Oscar, but there are parts where the narrator tells us what others think about him. And people think a lot of different things about him. Since Oscar is different than most lower class Latin boys. For one, he is not super ghetto. He actually is a white washed nerd. You know, the kid with all the comic books, sci fi, who does not have much luck with anyone, and likes books more than people. I can relate to Oscar, but I have never been lower class. My family back in Mexico are the kind of people that can pay for private school, but I am going off track. This paragraph is given to Oscar and how the diction used in the part shows how big a disconnection there is between him and everyone else. While everyone else is using there grammatically incorrect Spanglish, Oscar is using big words that only makes people hate him. And in a lower class Latin community it’s strange for someone to act like they’re not Latin. I know no one believed me when I told them I was Mexican, because not only was a light skinned but I was really educated and white washed. They did not know how to take it so they ignored me and went back to their ghetto lifestyle. A lifestyle I will never too fond of, but like Oscar there was a time in my life where I tried to be like them. It went horribly. Pretty much because of the diction I understood how Oscar felt, how the community he lived in affected him, and how Americanized he truly was.

Next there is “Wildwood” which is in the perspective of Lola, Oscar’s sister. This part is extremely different than the other two, because it is actually in first person. Because of this we see how she takes in all the things that were only hinted to in Oscar’s section. In this one we get of the feel of the mother and daughter relationship between Lola and her mother. And we understand what caused Lola to go into her rebellious stage. Since their mother was not any easy person to live with, and the cancer did not make her any easier. That actually really reminds me of my father because he was the same way. You know, hardworking and just tough. Then he gets in an accident and he can’t do anything he used to. So he lives on the couch and does not want me grow up. But the mother is this story is far tougher than my father, and far smarter. Like that part where the mother was chasing Lola and pretended to have gotten hurt, but was just playing. That’s my favorite part, because it just a perfect picture of how both of them are. The mother is just so tricky and such a stubborn woman, and the daughter is like most girls at her age who are just trying to run away. But no matter how far they run away they always go back. Anyway in this passage we learn a lot more about all the characters. We see how shy and awkward Oscar really is. How evil the mother is. How differently they all take in the mother’s illness. And then we see how La Inca really cares about all of them. How different Lola lives in her mother’s old home, and how it changes her by bringing her back into her Latin roots. The dialect during that part of that passage just lifts us into this third world country. It makes you understand where they are all coming from

Then there’s “The Three Heartbreaks of Belicia Cabral” which really connects to the past sections because it shows you why their mother is such a bitch. It also shows you how she lived while in her home country. This part returns the voice to the narrator, but only more focused on Beli. But the narrator seems like someone who was told this story from Beli, and this makes me wonder if this narrator is Oscar. The diction used in this passage shows the naivety Beli had in her youth. It shows you how completely infatuated she was with idea with love, but it also shows you how much she loved attention. Then the diction used by everyone else makes you believe they are who are told. Like the Chinese girl and how she barely knows Spanish. My favorite part is why she ran up to Beli when she purposely was showing assets and buttoned her shirt up for her while “You showing.” This section makes you understand how she became one of the darkest characters in this book. She is the character that is like most people those who come to America: bad youth, hard workers, and dreamers of that American Dream.

All of these parts may be different but they obviously connect and have similar qualities. Like how they are all coming of age stories about these three main characters. They all show how these characters grew up and how they became who they are. Then two of the major techniques that are used are how the author uses Spanish in the dialect and footnotes. By using the Spanish not only do you get a bigger feel about how they were raised and how they are lower class Latin Americans, but you are also completely put inside their life. And I am assuming that Diaz did not just write this for lower class Latin Americans. Since not all Latins are like the Wao kids, and that is pretty apparent in this book. So because Diaz knew who his audience probably was going to be he had to make the situations more realistic to those who could not completely relate or understand. That must also be the reason he adds in the footnotes, because in our history classes we don’t learn about the struggles of third world countries. They hint some things in the history books, but unless you live in the Dominican Republic or are Dominican all of that is alien to you. And if he did not add those footnotes a lot of us would be majorly confused.

read on, write on...

As an American-Mexican, I struggle with learning a new Spanish word or phrase everyday. Thus, reading Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was intellectually fun to read as well as challenging. But, there was still street slang, comic book lingo, and even academically profound English words I could not initially comprehend without reference. Nonetheless, I was able to read on. It’s a good thing Díaz uses footnotes as a biographical tool to introduce the world to persons and events of the Dominican Republic’s dictatorial history. I really enjoyed reading this novel because of it’s complex use of language: spanglish sentences, untranslatable phrases, science fiction references, colloquial vernaculars, superstitions and curses, sarcasm, historical footnotes, and even the impressive English vocabulary. Not only do I learn about true events in our world, as well as brush up on my Spanish, but also, how to use the structure of language in the content of the story.

In an interview with Junot Díaz, he says that he wrote the book so the reader could feel like an immigrant “unable to understand huge chunks of the language…which provokes action to want to know.” As Oscar and his sister Lola, as well as their mother Belicia (and the narrator, as we later find out), immigrated to New York from the Dominican Republic, so shall the reader. I want to know what these Spanish nouns mean, I want to learn the slang, and I also want to read the science fiction novels Díaz keeps referencing. Also in this interview he states that it takes “enormous imagination and tremendous patience and strength to pick up a new language.” I guess I had to write this down because it struck me as similar to how I feel when reading his book. It takes incredible conditioning to learn something new, especially of a different culture. And this is where Oscar is- in between America (in his comic books) and the Dominican Republic (in it’s fukú curse on his family).

Since this novel strongly evokes a constant state of “otherness,” or double consciousness, an alienation from both cultures, the reader can’t also help but to feel cursed for not understanding every word and phrase Díaz throws out, making us an immigrant to his book. I understand what it’s like to be here- standing on the border of Mexico and America- not knowing which way to bend at times. So having this awareness for it, I can feel comfortable relating this Oscar. I have also gotten lost in reading Science Fiction. As a writer, my first passion is reading. It think this is one of the most important messages in Junot Diaz’s novel, “I write because I love to read.” Oscar reads and writes to escape into a Nerdland outside of the curses and cultures of the real world. It is ironic, however, that he chooses to write mostly apocalyptic stories which can be a reference to the state of the Dominican Republic after the fall of Trujillo’s dictatorship.

There is a lot to connect as a writer and a reader, but also as someone conscious of two different cultures within me. I love how Díaz uses many different types of languages to evoke this concept of unintelligibility and thus, build a strong dependable relationship with the reader. I hope to be able to understand these techniques better as I read on and write on.