“The Oriental Contingent” by Diana Chang

Introduction

“The Oriental Contingent” is a weird short story by Diana Chang from an Asian American women's anthology called The Forbidden Stitch (full citation at the end for persons who care). Alright, it's not my very popular short story of all time or anything (it actually is just kind of strange), but Asian American abductees' knowledge aren't fictionalized that often, so I sensed like it was worth writing about. Oh, and by the way, in the anthology's contributor notes it states Chang "identifies herself as an American writer whose background is mostly Chinese." You number it out.

Thesis Statement

The story pursues the odd and hyper-vigilant considered processes of Connie, a Chinese American violinist obsessed with "figuring out" other Asians.

The story is jam-packed with numerous of the identity mix-up/misunderstandings that Asian Americans know-how (and participate in) on a daily cornerstone. Here's a entire bunch of demonstrations: Connie notices that Lisa (this woman she encounters for the first time at a party but who everyone assumes Connie should already understand because, after all, they're both Asian) has a "Chinese face," and conceives that, whereas Lisa is wearing a "one-of-a-kind kimono dress," it doesn't "make her gaze Japanese at all." When Lisa immediately locations Connie by her first title, Connie conceives she does so "like any American" (171). Connie can't glimpse Lisa very well because the night is dark, and she feels frustrated that Lisa hasn't supplied "enough clues" to help Connie "fathom" her (172).

When Lisa introduces Connie to this friend of hers, Eric Li, Connie observes that he "looked Chinese from the Shantung area, or possibly from Beijing," and she notices right away that he talks "with an accent" (173). And at a twosome of gaps in the story, "Americans" (read white persons) make an look, I guess to remind us that this stuff is occurrence in a context where all Asians "'look alike'" (172) and where Connie and Eric, both round thirty years vintage, can "'pass as teenagers'" (175) as far as whites are concerned.

Throughout the short story "The Oriental Contingent" the pressure of being Chinese is felt. In the beginning, you see the point of view of Connie, a Chinese who was raised in America but doesn't know anything about Chinese culture. I feel with her in wishing that she could speak Mandarin or Cantonese and have a sense of the culture. Having the void of not knowing your cultural heritage, or being able to speak in your ethnic language, can hinder your self-confidence to the point that you think more about what you're lacking rather than what you have. I feel her torture in how when I hear Chinese or Filipinos speak in mandarin, Tagalog, or Cantonese that I just frown and feel inferior. I envy being able to speak in those languages and I feel stupid when people ask me simple questions in those languages. This lack of knowledge can sometimes be the drive of a person's choices in life, like focusing on learning ...