Dictee

Dictee is a seminal work that has strongly influenced those poets lucky enough to have read it in the decades since it first appeared. It has had an underground reputation for decades, and now is beginning to be known to the mainstream. Yes, Dictee is rooted in the specifics of her family's immigrant experience, in the specifics of Korea and of America, in the specifics of gender, but it explodes across time, space and cultures, it transcends form, and ultimately it transforms the reader's consciousness of what can be done with writing and how you can perceive your life. I am tempted to say "if Cha had lived longer she would have been one of our major writers" but in fact she *is* one of the major writers of the second half of the 20th century, on the strength of this one work alone. I am delighted that Dictee is soon to appear in an addition with more of Cha's work.

The autobiographical work of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, "Dictee," is both a challenging and unique experience to read. Her provocative blend of prose, poetry, narrative and historical pieces, among other genres, reveal a voice that purposely avoids a "typical" patriarchial discourse that is refreshing although disarming. Her words, contextually somewhat difficult for the (this) reader not previously aware of the complexities and truths of Korean history (both in Korea and America), are at once powerful and insightful...poetic, yet raw. Cha is able to use her gift to offer a glimpse into one woman's history and journey; one that ended much too soon on this planet for this talented artist.

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictee is well crafted, yet difficult. It examines life experience from the perspective of Korean women.Poetry, narrative and other text structures are employed. Language is used forcefully and in thought provoking ways to build the unique form of this book. Dictee poses questions and provides a lens from which to view the Korean immigrant experience, as well as, the history of political struggle in Korea. Reading Dictee is a wothwhile experience that will expand a reader's vision.

This book can be hard to follow at times; Cha uses mixed media to convey the very intracacies of her feelings on postcolonialism, postmodernism, language, and identity. There are French exercises, images of Joan of Arc (Dreyer's film version), an acupuncture chart, photocopied pages of letters--all interspersed throughout Cha's actual prose. This is an abstract piece, and I recommend "Writing Self, Writing Nation," the companion book with essays written by Asian American studies scholars to help guide you through it. "DICTEE" is an important work in Korean American literature, as it ascends from the normal prose and attempts to mediate the Korean American identity with text.

This book baffles me but I can't help coming back to it time and again. It makes my brain turn flip-flops and, in doing so, realize faculties of thought, imagination and empathy that I never knew existed. Cha's work is amazing, original, extremely insightful and interesting, bleak, defiant. As college reading lists "discover" the works of Asian American women writers (many of whom, like Amy Tan, are immensely popular but regularly problematized by scholars in Asian American studies), Theresa Cha must not be overlooked or forgotten.