Literary Nomadics in Francophone Allegories of Postcolonialism

20 Pages·2012·1.41 MB·English

Literary Nomadics in Francophone Allegories of Postcolonialism: Pham Van Ky and Tahar Ben
Jelloun
Author(s): Lisa Lowe
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Yale French Studies, No. 82, Post/Colonial Conditions: Exiles, Migrations, and
Nomadisms, Volume 1 (1993), pp. 43-61
Published by: Yale University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2930211 .
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LISA LOWE
LiteraryN omadics in Francophone
Allegorieso f Postcolonialism:
Pham Van Ky and TaharB en Jelloun
Evenu ponf irsta rrivingim, migrantsse nset heyh aveb eenf ora long
timet ravelingin theW est.
-Teshome Gabriel
In discussingd ecolonizationin Les Damnes de la terre(1 961),F rantz
Fanona rguest hato ne oft hec hallengesf acingt hosem ovementsse ek-
ing to dismantlec olonialismi s to providef ora new orderw hichr e-
fusest o reproducet heo ld colonials ystemt; hisn ew orderm usta void,
he argues,t he replacemento f the colonizerb y a nationalp artyt hat
wouldm erelyc aricaturet heo ld colonialism,a nd it shouldb e equally
suspiciouso fa n uncriticanl ativisma ppealingt o essentializedn otions
ofp recoloniali dentityI.n Fanon'sa ccount,o ld logics and social rela-
tionsp ersistp, articularlyth, rought het ies oft hen ationalb ourgeoisie
to the colonial orderT. he assumptiono fp owerb y then ationalb our-
geoisiem ayd o littlet o transformth ec onfiguratioonf s ocial relations
thate xistedu nderc olonialism,l eavingt he economicr elationshipo f
then eocolonials ocietyt o thef ormecro lonialp owero nlys uperficially
altered.I t is in this sense thatF anonw arnsa gainstt he formso f na-
tionalismp racticedb y neocolonialg overnmentEs.v en thoughF anon
arguest hatt he developmento f a nationalc ulturei s essentialt o the
colonized people's fighta gainst culturalo bliteration:" A national
cultureu nderc olonial dominationi s a contestedc ulturew hose de-
structionis soughti n systematicf ashion"'-he also warnst hatt he
rubric of nationalism can be easily distortedi nto racism, ter-
1. FrantzF anon,L es Damn6s de la terre(P aris:M aspero,1 961),1 78.T ranslatedb y
ConstanceF arringtoans The Wretchedof t heE arth( Grove,1 968).
YFS 82, Post/ColonialC onditionse, d. Lionnet& ScharfmanX, 1993 by Yale
University.
43
44 Yale French Studies
ritorialismo,r ethnicd ictatorshiposf o ne tribeo r regionalg roupo ver
others.I ronically,h e points out, these separatisms,o r "microna-
tionalisms,a"r et hemselvelse gacieso fc olonialism:" Byi tsv erys truc-
ture,c olonialismi s regionalista nd separatistC. olonialismd oes not
simplys tate the existenceo f tribes;i t also reinforceasn d separates
them" (70). In otherw ords,a nationalistp olitics of racial or tribal
separatismm ayb e quitec ongruenwt itht hed ivide-and-conquleorg ics
ofc oloniald ominationF. anon'st reatiseli nkst ogethetrh ep racticeso f
a nationalb ourgeoisiew hicha ssimilatesc olonialistt houghtan dp rac-
tice to nationalistp racticest hat privilegeo ne "native"g roupo ver
others.T hus associatingb oth bourgeoisa ssimilationa nd bourgeois
nationalismw itht hes tructuroef c ulturald ominationF, anonc alls for
a thirda lternative-neithenr eocolonialismn ora nativisti nversion-
which would breakw ith the old logic,s tructuresa,n d narrativeos f
colonialism,a nd would persisti n collectivelyc riticizingth e institu-
tionsa nd apparatuseso fr ule.S ubsequentd iscussionso fn ationalism
byB enedictA ndersonD, avid Lloyd,M aryL ayoun,H omi Bhabha,a nd
others-and then ation'sd oublef unctionas a fictiono fu nityf orb oth
the colonialp owera nd the emergenpt opulation-resonatew ithF an-
on's observation.2
PostcolonialF rancophoneli teratureos f NorthA fricaa nd South-
east Asia are not onlys ymptomatisci teso ft he struggleasn d contra-
dictionsa nalyzedb y Fanona nd others,b ut in certainc ases, the liter-
atures also offer narrative allegories of these struggles and
contradictionIsn. thet wop articularn ovelsI discuss-Pham VanK y's
Des femmesa ssises ga etl ac( 1964)a ndT aharB enJ elloun'Ls 'Enfantd e
sable (1985)-colonialist and nativistn ationalismsa re constitutedas
opposeds itesw hicha rev isiteda ndr evisitedh; owevert,h en otiont hat
eithero ft heset opoii s fixedo ra uthoritativies ultimatelyu ndermined
both by the protagonistsf' ictionalizedt ravelb etweena nd beyond
them,a nd byn arrativde isplacementosf t hec ategoriets hemselvesB. y
means of fictionalizedt ravela nd narrativet echniques,e ach novel
positsa llegorieso fF anon'st hirda lternativea: strategipc racticew hich
neitherr einforcetsh es tructuroef c oloniald ominationn, ora ppealst o
2. See BenedictA ndersonI,m aginedC ommunitiesR: eflectionosn theO rigina nd
Spreado fN ationalism( London:V erso,1 983); David Lloyd,N ationalisma nd Minor
LiteratureJ: amesC larenceM angana nd theE mergencoef I rishC ulturalN ationalism
(Universitoyf C aliforniPa ress,1 987);M aryL ayoun," FictionaFl ormationasn d Defor-
mations,"S outhA tlanticQ uarterly(W inter1,9 88):5 3-73; Homi K. Bhabha,i ntroa. nd
ed.,N ation and Narration(L ondon:R outledge1, 990).
LISA LOWE 45
an essentializedp recolonialo rderb, utw hich-in then omadicu nset-
tlingo f the model of colonialisma nd nativisma s polar opposites-
troublest hev eryl ogico ft heb inarisma,n dq ueriest hen otiono fs truc-
turedr ulei tselfB. othn ovelsm akeu se ofa centralp rotagonist'"sj our-
ney"-his/herl iterala ndf igurativseh uttlingb etweenp laces-to dra-
matize the contradictoryf ormationso f the postcolonial subject
betweenc ultures;e ach protagonisits drawnt o the fixedl ogics and
formationws hicha rticulateb otht hec olonialF rencha nd the "native"
positionsy, etr emainst rulya mbivalentw ithr egardt o both.T his wan-
deringi s signifiedin bothn ovels in termso f a dramao f sexual am-
bivalence:i n Des femmesa ssises ga et la, the male subject'ss imul-
taneous desiref or,a nd rejectiono f,c ulturalp lace is expressedi n a
narrativein which "place" is figuredin a choice betweent he pre-
colonial/maternablo dya nd the colonial/eroticizefde maleb ody;i n
L'Enfantd e sable, the dramao fa Muslimf emalec hilds ocializeda s a
man, the transvestite'asm bivalentr elationshipt o both male and
female identityb ecomes a centralm etaphorf or the problemso f
postcoloniale mergenceI. do notr eadt heu ltimatep lacelessnesso f ei-
ther protagonista s signifyingth e fluctuatingin determinancyof
postcolonialo r postmodernc ultures;n ord o I readt heirp ostcolonial
placelessnessr omanticallyas, thep oignantp lighto ft hef oreveerx iled.
Indeed,e ach of these novels could be read in these ways. Rather,I
interpretth e nomadicm ovementso f bothn arrativeasn d theirp ro-
tagonistsa s suggestinsgt rategiefso ri maginingr esistancet o thel ogics
of culturali mperialism,l ogics which manage nativistr eactiona s
the binaryc omplementt o culturald omination.
In usingt het erm" nomadic,"I takea s a pointo fd eparturteh ev ery
literals ensei n whichn omadicp racticesa rea ndw ereo fc entrali mpor-
tance to the historieso f Cochinchinaa nd Vietnam,a nd of Morocco
and the Maghreb,t he geographiesa ssociatedw ith both of the texts
discussedi n thise ssay.M iltonO sbornec ommentsu pon the "migra-
toryt hemeo fV ietnameseh istorya"n dt hep resenceo ff loatingp opula-
tionsl ivingo utsidea reasu ndert hef irmc ontrolo ft heg overnmenitn
the period precedingt he arrivalo f Frenchc olonialism in 1859.3
Moreovero, ne maya rgue,a s HermanR apaportd oes,t hata historyo f
nomadismc ontinuedb eyondt hec olonialp eriodo fV ietnam,in tot he
guerillat acticsw ithw hicht heV ietC ongf oughtth eA mericans oldiers
3. Milton Osborne,T he FrenchP resencei n Cochinchinaa nd Cambodia: Rule
and Response,1 859-1905 (Ithaca:C ornellU niversityP ress,1 969).
46 Yale FrenchS tudies
duringt heV ietnamW ar.4N omadict ribesa lso comprisedan important
portiono ft hep opulationi n Moroccob othb eforea nd aftert hei mposi-
tiono fF renchr ulei n 1912.5T akingt hisl iteralh istoryo fn omadisma s
a pointo fd eparturew, e mayl ook firstt o Foucault'ss uggestivne otion
of heterotopia,a nd then to Deleuze and Guattari'sc oncepto f the
nomadic,i n ordert o arrivea t a metaphorizedse nse oft hen omadica s
strategicm ethod.6F oucault arguest hat in institutionaal nd social
practicesc ertains paces are codeda s "public"a nd othersa s "private,"
some domains" legal"a nd others" illegal,"s ome areasf or" work"a nd
othersf or" play."H eterotopiar efertso thes pacesd isciplinedb yt hese
social designationsa s other:t he spaces of crisis,i lliteracyd,e viance,
enslavemento,r colonizationW. e can renderF oucault'sn otiono fh et-
erotopiam orec omplexb yt akingi t out ofi ts ultimatelyb inaryf rame
ofo ppositionsb etweenl egitimatea ndi llegitimatsep aces;i fw e recast
spatial differencien termso f multiples ites, it is ultimately-m ore
usefult o thet heorizingo fr esistanceb ecausei ts multiplicityex ceeds
theb inaryt ermso fc olonialistd iscourseT. his mored evelopeds enseo f
multiplieds patialh eterogeneitiys e laboratedin Millep lateaux( 19801,
thes econdv olumeo fC apitalismee t schizophreniai,n whichD eleuze
and Guattarib othn ame and dramatize" nomad"t houghta s a collec-
tiono fw anderingtsh rougha myriadn etworko fi ntersectinpgl ateaus,
each a meditationo n differenint stanceso fr elationb etweent he seg-
menteda nd destratifiedst, asisa nd motion,t hem easureda nd thep ro-
fuse.D eleuze andG uattari'ss ubversivne omadt houghtc elebratesh et-
erogeneityr athert han essentializingo ppositionso r identities;i t is
simultaneousr athert hanh ierarchicalc,h ronologicaol,r p roportioned.
The space ofn omadt houghtis smooth,n otg riddedli ke ruledo rr egu-
lated spaces.F romt he smoothnesso fn omads pace,o ne can travelt o
4. See HermanR apaport",V ietnamT: he ThousandP lateaus,"i n The SixtiesW ith-
out Apologye, d. SohnyaS ayres,A ndersS tephansonS,t anleyA ronowitzF, redricJ am-
eson (MinneapolisM: innesotaU niversityP ress,1 984).
5. The endangeredst atuso f the nomad tribess catteredt hroughoutth e western
and centrala reaso fs outhernM orocco,b othB erbera ndA rab,i s suggestedb yt her apid
decline of nomad populationst hroughoutt he twentiethc entury;s ee Virginia
Thompsona nd RichardA dloffT, he WesternS aharans( London:C roomH elm, 1980),
195; fora descriptionof tribesi n the region,s ee 309-23. Fora historicals tudyt hat
addressest hes ituationo fn omadsi n Morocco,s ee EdmundB urkeP, reludet o Protecto-
ratei n Morocco:P recolonialP rotesta nd Resistance1, 860-1912 (Chicago:U niversity
of ChicagoP ress,1 976).
6. See Michel Foucault'sp osthumouslyp ublishedt ext "Des Espaces autres,"i n
Architecture-Mouvement-Contin(Oucitt6o ber1, 984);T ranslatedb yJ ayM iskowieca s
"Of OtherS paces,"i n Diacritics1 6,n o. 1 (Spring1, 986).
LISA LOWE 47
anyo therp oint,t hrougha varietyo fr outes,b ya varietyo fm eans; its
mode ofo perationi s then omos,e xtendingf orwardin an open space,
rathert hant hel ogos ofe ntrenchinign a closed,d iscretes pace. They
remindu s furtherth at "therea re alwaysp assages fromo ne to the
other,t ransformationosf one withint he other,r eversals"( 602). In
otherw ords,n omadismi s not a thirds pace outside the organized
antinomyo f smooth and striateds paces, which would merelyr e-
producea nothera ntinomyo f "organized"a nd "unorganizeds"p aces;
rathert,h en omadics uggestiveldye signatesa practicew hicht raverses
these settledd istinctionsw, hichs hiftsa nd displacest hem,a nd ulti-
matelyr esituatest hema s differenlotc i.
In this sense,t he notiono fn omadismi nterrupttsh e persistently
binarys chemasw hicht endt o conditiont hew ayi n whichw e reada nd
discussn oto nlyp ostcoloniall iteratureb,u tp ostcolonials ituationsin
generalW. henw e sayt hata texta rticulatese ithera modelo fn ational
liberation,o r that it subsumes the new nation to the cultural
hegemonyo ft hef ormerco lonialp owerw, e mayb e imposinga n abso-
lute binaryf rameworwk hichr eliest oo heavilyu pon a temporallo gic
ofp rior" colonialism"a nds ubsequent" postcolonialism,t"h erebyli m-
itingt he imaginationo r practiceo f otherf ormso f resistancew hich
wouldn otb e linearlyt iedt o coloniald ominationB. inaryc onceptions
mayb e neitherr adicaln ore xtravaganetn ought o accountf ort heh et-
erologicals ense in whichs ocial terrainasr en ot monolithicallyde ter-
minedb ye itherc olonizero rc olonized,b uta rec haracterizebdy c ondi-
tionso f emergenceh, ybridityan, d the coexistenceo f competingy, et
unevens trata,o fn ot onlyn ationa nd race,b ut ofg enderc, lass, caste,
and region.7T hus, by proposingp ostcolonialityas a heterogeneous,
nonbinaryte rrain-in a mannern ot unliket hato fE dwardS oja, who
discussesp ostmodernitays a geographoyf s imultaneousr elationsa nd
meaningst ied togetherb y spatial rathert han temporall ogic8-we
may make use of the temporallym arkedp oles offeredb y a binary
schema,b ut at the same timeu nsettlet hoses tatic,f ixeda ntinomies
byt raversintgh em,b yd isplacingt hemw itho therp ositionsa nd loca-
tions.I n thiss ense,n omadisms uggestst o us anotherm annero fr ead-
inga nd thinkingp ostcolonialityw,h iche xploresn oto nlyt hec ategory
7. I have elaboratedt his notiono f the discursivein tersectionosf formationosf
gender,c lass, race and nation,e lsewhere;s ee CriticalT errainsF: rencha nd British
Orientalisms(I thaca:C ornellU niversityP ress,1 991).
8. EdwardW . Soja, PostmodernG eographiesT: he Reassertiono fS pace in Critical
Social Theory( London:V erso,1 989).
48 Yale French Studies
of space,b ut a movementa crosss paces. Nomadisma lludes to a cri-
tique ofc olonialismw hichw ouldn eitherr eproducen, orb e boundi n
binaryl ogic to, culturald ominationa; s an emblemf orp erpetualr e-
newal,f lux,n onconservationit, i s certainlyco nditionals,t rategica,n d
temporaryW. hile appreciatingt he suggestivenesso f the term,
nomadisms houldn ot excludet heu se oft actical,p rovisionaol pposi-
tionsi n practicarl esistancest o dominationa; ndi n thisr egardI, w ould
alwaysw antt o inscribet het heoreticadl iscussiono fn omadismw ithin
a frameworwk hich stressest hatp racticals truggleasg ainstc olonial
domination necessarilyo ccur throughs trategicallyf ixed fronts,
boundariesa,n d centersH. oweverb, yd iscussingt hel iteraryn omadics
in two postcolonialn ovels,I mean to thematizei n spatialt ermst he
need to avertc olonialism'sb inaryl ogic,w hichw orkst o projecta nd
overdetermincee rtainf ormso fi dentity-nativistn, ationalisto, rf un-
damentalist-as the responsest o colonialism.
DES FEMMES ASSISES (A ET LA
" . . . ifI weret o recoverm yp asta s alphabeticasl ounds,a nd not
throughid eogrammatifci guresw, hats on wouldy our eclaim,
Mother?In whatp iece ofy ourf leshw ouldy our ecognizem e?"9
Des femmesa ssises qa et la (1964) is a stream-of-consciousnensasr -
rativew rittenin thef ormo fa n interiorm onologuer, ecallinga t times
thee xistentialistth emeso fF renchf ictiono ft he 1950sa nd 1960s.T he
styleo ft hen arrativet,h usa ssociatedw itht hep sychologicals,u ggests
a readingt hatp rivilegest hem ale narrator/protagoniisntt'se rnalc on-
flict,in whichh e is caughta mbivalentlybe tweent hef orceso fm ater-
nal and eroticl ove. Howevert, o considerD es femmesa ssises within
thet ermso ft hisF rencht raditionis noto nlyt o misreadi t,a ndn aively
so, but also to suppressi ts "nomadic" contentb y readingf ort he
hegemonic;i n this sense,I suggestt hatD es femmesa ssises mustb e
resituatedw ithint heh istoricacl ontexto fi ts productiont,h ati s, read
with an attentiont o the referencems ade to the narrator'ps osition
as an emigre and as a formers ubjecto f Frenchc olonialismi n Viet-
9. Pham Van Ky,D es Femmesa ssises pa et lb (Paris:G allimard,1 964),3 4. All
translationosf texta re mine.
LISA LOWE 49
nam.1 0P lacingt hep sychologicadl ramaw ithint hisc olonialf ramew, e
may then appreciatet he allegoryo f ambivalencea s an allusion to
nomadismu sed as a strategyf orr esistingc olonial subjectification.
The protagonist/narratoofr D es femmesa ssises is a Vietnamese
man borni n Quinhon,e ducatedi n Frenchs econdarysc hooli n Hanoi,
who emigratetso Parisi n 1939t o attendt heS orbonnea ndt heI nstitut
des Hautes Etudes Chinoises. He has remainedi n Paris aftert he
Frenchd efeata t Dien BienP hui n 1954,a nda t thet imeo ft hen arrative
he is a novelistt here.L ike manyd isplacedp ostcoloniali ntellectuals
whose originsa re in the colonizedc ultureso f SoutheastA sia, North
Africa,o r the Caribbean,y et whose languagei s Frencha nd whose
educationh as beena dministerebdy t heF rencht, hen arratoirs deeply
disaffectewd ith his lifei n the colonial metropolisb, ut nonetheless
recognizest he impossibilityo f a simpler eturn" home,"a returna s
untenablea s the hope that one mightr ecovera precolonialc ulture
uncontaminatebdy F renchi nfluenceH. is memorieso ft heV ietnamo f
his childhooda re ofa culturep ervasivelym anagedb yF renchc olonial
and missionarya uthoritiesh; is recit is punctuatedw ithv ividf lash-
backs of his knuckles being rappedb y the nuns at the college in
Quinhon,o f strugglets o understandR oman Catholic meaningsa nd
practiceso, fa humiliatingm isunderstandincgon cerninwg esternf ood
in a Frenchr estauranitn Hanoi. These memoriesa re emblemso fh is
"dis-orientations,i"g nifierosf t hec ontextin whichF renchp oliciesi n
Indochinas oughtt o deracinatec olonizeds ubjectsn oto nlyf romt heir
customs,f oods,r ites,b utm ostc entrallyf,r omt heir.languagIen. deed,
Frenchc oloniala dministratortsh emselvers epeatedlyfi guredth es uc-
cess of rule in Vietnami n a debate over the question of language:
wouldF rencho r Vietnameseb e taughti n Vietnameses chools?W ould
newspapersb e publishedw ith Chinese ideogramso r in romanized
quoc-ngu?T hatm anyo ft hed ebatesi n then ineteenth-centuardym in-
istrationsc oncentratedon theseq uestionso fl anguagei llustratest he
degreet o whicht hec oloniala uthoritiews hoi mposedF renchla nguage
upont heV ietnameser ecognizedt hen ativel anguagea nd Chinesei de-
ogramsa s barriertso Frenchi nfluencea,s well as theirc rucialr olesi n
then ativer esistancet o colonialism.11
10. Fora descriptionof the differenwta veso fV ietnameseim migratiotno France
sincec olonizations,e e Le Huu Khoa,L es Vietnamienesn France:i nsertione t identitM
(Paris:L 'Harmattan1, 985).
11. MiltonO sborne,o p. cit.,c haracterizetsh e Frenchc oloniala dministratioonf
Vietnama s dividedb etweent wo approachesa: ssimilation(p rogramosf g allicizingo f
50 Yale FrenchS tudies
Thus inscribedb y thisc onstructionof t heF renchl anguagea s the
predominanatp paratuso f colonial dominationt, he protagonistn/a r-
ratori s a novelistw ho,a t thet imeo ft hen arrativei,s in thep rocesso f
writinga novel in French;c hoosingw ritinga s his vocation,h e at-
temptst o master,a nd therebyr earticulatet,h e languageo f the colo-
nizer.T he narratocro nstitutets he "primals cene"o fh is colonials ub-
jectificationb y recallinga childhood episode and assigningi t a
paradigmatisct atus:h e describesa chestw hichw as openedb ym aneu-
verings evenr ings,e ach embossedw itha lettero f the alphabet,t hus
figurinFgr enchl anguagea s a cipherm ediatingb etweent he colonial
subjecta s childa nd thec olonizer'sw orldo fp aternals ecretsH. e refers
to thisl ock as "myf irsta lphabeticp rimerm, yi nfidelityif,n otm yf irst
betrayala,g ainstt hei deogram"(2 3).I n thiss enset hen arratorre writes
psychoanalysiso'sr iginaryO edipald ramai n whicht hec hildi magines
the mothert o be castrateda nd identifiews itht he masculinityo ft he
fathero vera nd againstt hef emininitoyf t hem othera,n dp roposest his
scenea s the "origins tory"o fh is colonials ubjectificationlu: redb yt he
powerfulo ccidentals ecretsh iddeni n the chest,h e foreswearts he
Chinese ideogrami n favoro fa lphabeticr omanizationT. he image of
the alphabeticl ock condensesn ot onlyt he colonizeds ubject'se xclu-
sion fromo ccidentall inguisticm eanings,b ut to the degreet hatt he
narratora ssociates the seven-lettecro mbinationlo ck with the tele-
phonen umberso fh is womenf riendsa,n dt heC atholics's eventhd ayo f
rest,i t representasl so his denieda ccesst o westerns exuala ndr eligious
systemso fs ignificationIn. thee pisodeo ft hea lphabeticl ock then ar-
ratorr ecreatesh is firste ncounterw itht he colonialistd iscourset hat
grantst heF renchl anguagea uthority-theh oldingo fs ecretst, hep ro-
ductiono fp leasure,t her evelationo fh iddenm eaningT. he prohibiting
alphabeticl ock signifiesh is initiationi nto desiref orw esternm ean-
ings,a nd moreovert,h es plittingof t hec olonials ubjectu ponh is inser-
tioni nto a westerne conomyo fs ignificatioann d desire.'2
Vietnamesec ulture)a nd association( maintenancoef traditionailn stitutionsD).e bate
on the use of Chinese characterso r alphabeticw ritinga nimatedt hese conflicting
approaches.
12. On castrationan xietys,e e Freud," Anxietyan dI nstinctuaLl ife,"N ewIntroduc-
toryL ectureso n Psychoanalysi(sN ewY ork:N orton,1 965).O n thep rocesso fo edipaliza-
tiona ndt hed ivisiono ft hes ubjecti nl anguages,e e Lacan," Thea gencyo ft hel etterin the
unconsciouso rr easons inceF reud,"in Ecritst, ransA. lan Sheridan(N ewY ork:N orton,
1977).I am arguingh eret hati ft hep rocesso fo edipalizationis seen as an instrumenotf
colonizationt, he degreet o whicho edipalizationd oes not functionin the case oft he
colonizeds ubjecti s onei llustratioonf t hec ontradictionins herenitn c olonialism.
LISA LOWE 51
This narrativree collectiono ft hec olonials ubject,a ndh is confron-
tationw ith westerns ystemso f interpellation(s exual,r eligious,a nd
linguistic)t,h us introducest he narrator'ds ilemma,a nd it is through
this recollectiont hat we must read the contemporardyr amao f his
"choice."T he narratorre ceivesa telegramf romh is motherd emanding
thath e returnt o Vietnamt o attendh erw hiles hei s dying:" I awaity ou
in ordert o die." The narrator-whor emainsc haracteristicalluyn -
named,u nfixedt, hroughoutth e novel-poses his dilemmaa s one in
which he both desirest o remainf aithfutl o his home countrya nd
languagee, mbodiedi n his dyingm othera ndh ert elegramcsa llingh im
to herd eathbeda, nd to come to termsw ithh is partialy, etu ndeniable,
assimilationin toP arisianc ulturee, mbodiedin thea ttachmenthse has
to threeF renchw omeni n his contemporarlyif e:O rla,S olange,a nd a
youngw oman named Eliane, of whom he is most fond,w ho dies of
leukemiad uringt he courseo ft hen ovel.T he dureeo ft hen ovelc on-
sists of the narrator'vs acillationa monga varietyo f culturalc hoices
figuredt hrought he femaleo bject-choicest; he dyingm otheri s con-
flatedw itha n imaginaryp,r ecoloniaVl ietnamp, redatingev ent hen ar-
rator'sc hildhoodt here,w hile Paris,a nd his threeF renchw omen
friendcso me to representth ec oercionsa nd seductionso ft hec oloniz-
ing culture.'3 Moreover,t he dyingm othera nd the dyingF rench
womanE lianea rec onstitutedas polaro pposites;t hen arratorre mains
undecidedb etweent he demandingo bligationso ff ilialo bediencea nd
romanticlo ve,t hep ulls ofn ativisma nd thep revailingte mptationosf
assimilation.
In the narrator'st houghts,h is motheri s conflatedw ith the
"mother"c ountryV, ietnam.H is memorieso f his mothera re essen-
tialized as physicals ensations,b oth absolutelyc ompellinga nd en-
tirelyu ncomfortable":I had pieces of Motheri n my hands,i n my
memory.... It was her maternals hadoww hicha lternatedw ith my
own, a shadow which became more ephemerale ach morninge, ach
eveningb ecominga smallerp arto fm yp ast" (9).T he narrator'tsi es to
his motherb ecomea metaphorf ort hei ntensey, eta mbivalentl,o nging
he feelsf ort raditionaVl ietnam,n ot simplyt hea lreadyc olonizeds ite
ofh is childhoodb, utt hei mageo fa pure," original"V ietnamb eforet he
FrenchH. e feelsd eepf ilialo bligationb, uth e cannotr eturnth ere;h e is
hauntedb y shame at his lack ofp iety,b ut he resentsh is motherf or
13. See JackY aeger,T he VietnameseN ovel in French( HanoverN, H: University
Presseso fN ew England,1 985),C hapter6 .