4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
RECONSTRUCTING CHINESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN
CATHY SONG‟S POEM “HEAVEN”
Juliati
Universitas Brawijaya
Abstracs
Reading a literary work is a literary communication. Instead of the author and the reality,
the reader communicates with a text. The reader‘s encounter with the literary text is also
a unique experience since he/she deals with something which is unique. It is something
which does not meet the gramarticality of the text. The incongrousity of the elements in
the text of poetry forces the reader to interpret the text. As it is known, a poetry says one
thing indirectly. It says one thing but means another thing. This literary experience can be
found in the reading of Cathy Song‘s poem entitled ―Heaven‖. At the first reading, the
poem seems to tell a fragment of Chinese American life experience. However, the use of
figures of speech as such metaphor, metonymy and irony leads to an interpretation of
the poem which is called the second stage of reading. To gain a deep interpretation of the
poem, this study used the semiotic theory of poetry proposed by Rifaterre as well as the
theory of intertextuality. These theories are applied to decipher the meaning of the poem
as well as to reveal how it relates to the reality concerning the life of Chinese Americans.
Keywords: metaphor, intertextuality, reality, Chinese Americans
Introduction
Poetry provides a literary communication as poetry speaks to its readers through words.
Listening to what the speaker or the persona of a poem means reading a poem. The reading
does not end at the point that a reader listens to the speaker or the persona, but it goes further
to the stage of interpreting what a poem means. Seeking for the meaning of a poem becomes
the trend or focus of poetry reading nowadays. However, meaning in literary utterance such
poetry is different from that of nonliterary utterence. The difference occurs since poetic
language is the secondary system of signification. Beside the language convention, it has a
literary convention that may violate the general rules of language. Geoffrey N Leech in his
Linguistic Guide of English poetry states ―that poetic language may violate or deviate the
general ly observed rules of language in many different ways, some obvious, some
subtle‖(cited in Bahador and Laskharian, 2014, p.1). Rifaterre asserts poem does not signify
Juliati.
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
399
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
the same way as the prose text. This happens due to the indirectness of expression resulting
from the displacement of meaning, distortion of meaning, and the creation of meaning
(Riffaterre cited in Jabrohim, 2007, p.122). The three sources of indirect expression proposed
by Riffattere can be concluded as the result of figurative language by which most poets use in
designing their poem. The dominance of figurative language in poetry is asserted by
Eagleton‘s statement that poery is the home of figurative language (2007).
However, a poem cannot be read without other texts underlying it. To obtain the true meaning
of poem, a reader should read the other texts that may influence the creation of a work.
Kristeva says,‖ every text takes shape as a mosaic of citations, every text is the absorption
and transformation of other texts... A work can only be read in connection with or against
other texts.‖ (in Culler, in Teeuw, 2003,p.121). This principle of intertextuality leads to the
consideration of prior texts as contributions to a code which makes possible the various
effects of significations (Culler, in Teeuw, p. 103). Rifatterre is also strongly for the idea of
intertextuality. He calls the text underlying the creation of a text as hypogram (cited in
Jabrohim, 2012,p. 103).
The term ―text‖ however nolonger simply means a linguistic structure woven out of words
and sign.
A text is nowadays used as a neutral term referring to anything opens for
interpretation. History, for example, can be considered as a text as it opens interpretation from
its reader. The written history itself often results from the historian‘s perspective. The
example of this notion can be seen in a book written by Berkhover entitled Beyond the Great
Story: History as Text and Discourse. Here he urges the historians to see histories more
critically in essence to see narratives influence he creation of histories.
The idea that ―meaning is based on multiple referents, and the truth of a text is established
through its contacts with reality" (Riffaterre 1983, 88) and that in contrast, the literary text
has only one referent, which is found neither in reality nor in the author's intention (1978,p.6)
can be taken as an integrated approach to gain the meaning of descriptive poetry due to the
fact that such a poetry is a type which is highly descriptive and uses language that creates
images and feelings. It is a deep depiction of a person, animal, or inanimate object. The
application of these ideas is possible since many things in a descriptive poem rest upon the
400
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
Juliati.
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
representation of reality. Therefore there will be discussion on the plain record of facts as the
intertextuality of a poem to other text in this case reality, and discussion on the literariness of
the poem.
Cathy Song‘s poem titled ―Heaven‖ is one example of poem which embodies the
characteristics of descrptive poetry. The description of the speaker‘s home in this poem is
vibrant. This poem postulates strongly the feeling of being not at home by telling the
speaker‘s dream home and the real one. The way the speaker describes the two places is so
clear and real that it makes this poem meet the qualification of descriptive poetry. Yet, as a
poetic work, it remains embodies the literary signification that goes beyond the literal
meaning. The use of figurative language such as metaphor and hyperbole is maintaned in this
poem.
Discussion
As stated by Rifatterre (1978, p.1), indirectness of expression becomes the uniqueness of
poetry since this causes the ungrammarticality of a poem. To go through the interpretation of
Cathy Song‘s ―Heaven‖, the readers should do the second reading in which the reader‘s
literary competence is needed to read the ungrammarticalities of ―Heaven‖. This indirectness
results from displacement, distortion, and creation of meaning. Displacement of meaning
happens due to the use of metaphor and metonymy.
In ―Heaven‖ metaphor is used in the early lines. The first line ―When we die, we‘ll go to
China‖ uses metaphor which is completed in the following line when the speaker tells it as
Chinese Heaven. The word ―China‖ in the first lines arises question how one can go to China
when they die. The question is answered by the speaker when she adds the word ―heaven‖.
The word ―Chinese heaven‖ is a metaphor as Holman (1981, p ) states it is ―an implied
analogy which imaginatively identifies one‘s object with another and ascribes to the first
object one or more of the qualities of the second or invest the first with the emotional or
imaginative qualities associated with the second.‖. The phrase ―Chinese heaven‖ puts the
qualities of Chinese in the word ―heaven‖. The word ―heaven‖ literally means a place of God
and the angels, and the good after death. It traditionally refers to the above place or sky. This
place is considered to be the most comfortable one since there is only happiness and abudance
Juliati.
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
401
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
of materials wanted by people. When it is added with the word ―Chinese‖, it means a heaven
with Chinese qualities such as its people whose hair is black, and eyes are slanted.
He thinks when we die we‘ll go to China. (1)
Think of it—a Chinese heaven (2)
where, except for his blond hair, (3)
the part that belongs to his father, (4)
everyone will look like him. (5)
Line 1 to line 5 which describe the concept of Chinese heaven do not mean the speaker talks
about heaven above the sky which is full of the Chinese. Rather, it emphasizes how China
becomes a place like a heaven since it is the homeland of the speaker and her children. It also
looks like a heaven for them since it is far away from them. This is strenghened in line 6 to
line 10.
China, that blue flower on the map, (6)
bluer than the sea (7)
his hand must span like a bridge (8)
to reach it. (9)
An octave away. (10)
In the lines above, the speaker identifies China as a blue flower on the map which is even
bluer than the sea. Again, it can be seen the use of metaphor since China is identified as blue
flower on the map. It is a flower because it signifies beauty, and it is blue as it is the color of
the sky. So, the use of the phrase ―blue flower‖ enforces the heavenly sense of China. It is a
beautiful and peaceful place. But as a heaven, it is so far away that the speaker‘s son‘s hand
must cross like a bridge to reach it. Here, simile is used by the poet by comparing the son‘s
hand‘s crossing as a bridge and the distance of China as an octave away. Again, in lines 11-12
the speaker emphasizes the far distance of China by telling that she herself has never seen it,
meaning that it is a place that she is difficult to visit due to some reasons.
I‘ve never seen it. (11)
It‘s as if I can‘t sing that far. (12)
402
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
Juliati.
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
After telling China as a ―heaven‖ that she and her son wish to see, the speaker has to get down
to the reality that they live in a place which is not like their dreamed China. The speaker
straightforwardly cuts the dream of seeing the Chinese heaven by saying:
But look— (13)
on the map, this black dot. (14)
Here is where we live, (15)
on the pancake plains (16)
just east of the Rockies, (17)
on the other side of the clouds. (18)
A mile above the sea, (19)
the air is so thin, you can starve on it. (20)
No bamboo trees (21)
but the alpine equivalent, (22)
reedy aspen with light, fluttering leaves. (23)
Instead of living in China which is described as a blue flower on the map, they live in a black
dot, on the east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States of America. ―Black dot‖ here is
a metaphor for a place located in the east of the Rockies. The calling ―black dot‖ is in contrast
with the way the speaker calls China as a blue flower. ―Black dot‖ creates the realistic image
in the reader‘s mind. A name of city on map is usually marked with a black dot. The color of
black also generally symbolizes bad or negative things such as sadness, death, or evil. The
calling ―pancake plains‖ turns down the image of a high place like heaven to a plain on the
earth. Based on the geographical facts, the region known for being in the east plain of the
Rocky Mountain is Colorado. The use of the word ―pancake‖ enforces the image of wide
plains typically found around the Rockies. Meanwhile ―a mile above the sea‖ is a popular
name for Denver, city in Colorado which its official elevation is exactly one mile (5,280 ft or
1,610 m) above sea level, making it one of the highest major cities in the United States. The
speaker‘s statement that it is just the other side of the cloud suits the real characteristic of
Denver, Colorado. As one of the highest cities in USA, the air is thinner than the other cities
or town. The absence of bamboo trees is also a matter for the speaker though she says that the
alpine seems equivalent to the bamboo tree.
Juliati.
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
403
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
The next two lines is a reflective question showing the effort of the speaker to accept the
reality in front of her eyes. She questions whether the place where she lives now is the place
that her Chinese ancestors wished to live. In these lines, the poet uses synedoche since a boy
in Guangzhou represents the Chinese imigrants who have arrived in the United States of
America since 19th century.
Did a boy in Guangzhou dream of this (24)
as his last stop? (25)
Further, the speaker describes the town where she and her children live more detailed and
realistically in line 26 to line 35.
I‘ve heard the trains at night (26)
whistling past our yards, (27)
what we‘ve come to own, (28)
the broken fences, the whiny dog, the rattletrap cars. (29)
It‘s still the wild west, (30)
mean and grubby, (31)
the shootouts and fistfights in the back alley. (32)
The speaker visually depicts a life in an unpleasant town. All the words chosen to describe the
town build the concept of unpleasant situation. Hearing the train whistle every night can
startle one from their sleep. Broken fences visualize poverty, neglect, or even violence done
by the owner. The noise produced by whining dogs, and broken-down old cars certainly
disturbs people‘s hearing. This foulness is added with the violent sound of shootouts and
fistfights in the a salley. It is indeed not a beautiful, cozy and peaceful place to live in. It is
mean and grubby, as what the speaker says. The condition reflected in this poem indeed
represents the some realities of Chinese Americans. Some cities in Colorado are densely
populated including Denver. The transcontinental-road that was built in the beginning of 19th
connecting Colorado to other states have triggered the coming of immigrants including the
Chinese. The indecent neighborhood reflected in the poem can be regarded as the portrayal of
neighborhood in which Chinese Americans live in. It is indicated by a survey showing that
many Chinese Americans live in densely populated urban area. This is a contrast/irony to
Chinese heaven that the speaker‘s son dreams about.
404
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
Juliati.
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
In line 33 to 38, the speaker involves her children in her reflective situation. Again, she
wonders why they are in the present place. Her questionings disclose her longing to have a
better place. Commonly, one will question their present existence when there is something
bothering. A reality which is different from the expectation will lead one to probe their
present existence, and this seems to happen to the speaker. There is a voice of discontent that
makes her question her life and long for being in her seemingly homeland.
With my son the dreamer (33)
and my daughter, who is too young to walk, (34)
I‘ve sat in this spot
(35)
and wondered why here? (36)
Why in this short life, (37)
this town, this creek they call a river? (38)
The following lines (39-49) vividly portray the reflective situation of the speaker. From her
recalling the past, the reader can grab a fragment of Chinese American‘s history. The word
―he‖ may refer to her grandfather or father who migrated to the United States in the end of
19th century. As it is known, the coming of the Chinese immigrants in the first wave triggered
by the economic and political hardship in rural China. The Chinese immigrants worked as
laborers, particularly in mining industry and the transcontinental railroad. The discovery of
gold in California in 1848 had attracted
many Chinese to America. The term ―Gold
Mountain‖ is a metonimy since it is historically related to Chinese Americans in calling
California. It is the gold found in California that makes them come to America. And it is the
males that came to America. They left their family to get money and send it to their families
in China. That is why in line 42, the speaker says that ―he had always meant to go back‖. The
early Chinese immigrants did not plan to settle in America. They just planned to stay for work
and then went back to their homeland. However, the passing time and the obsession of
getting the gold have kept the early immigrants in America. The speaker‘s calling ―makeshift
ghost towns‖ refers to some old towns in Colorado that are abandoned but they keep the
historical evidence of early residents‘ lives.
He had never planned to stay, (39)
the boy who helped to build (40)
Juliati.
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
405
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
the railroads for a dollar a day. (41)
He had always meant to go back. (42)
When did he finally know (43)
that each mile of track led him further away, (44)
that he would die in his sleep,
(45)
dispossessed, (46)
having seen Gold Mountain, (47)
the icy wind tunneling through it, (48)
these landlocked, makeshift ghost towns? (49)
The below lines (50-55) show that the speaker admits the longing of going back to China in
her soul and her children which seems to be inherited. When something is in one‘s blood, it
means it is within someone and cannot be removed. Though it has skipped two generations
(the speaker and her chidren) the longing to return to China still exists. The last lines (56-63)
of the poem tell the moment when the speaker asks her children to see the mountains. This
signifies the activity of hoping and tranferring the notion of ―being Chinese‖ to the next
generation. Seeing the mountain from a distance creates the sense of remoteness as well as
hope to reach it. As it is far and high, the mountain appears as a place near the heaven. The
strong dream of the son, however, leads him to imagine that he can see the way to heaven by
seeing the mountain. The deeply-rooted dream to see China becomes melancholic with the
fluttering shirts which are described like sails that bring them to their dreamed homeland.
It must be in the blood, (50)
this notion of returning. (51)
It skipped two generations, lay fallow, (52)
the garden an unmarked grave. (53)
On a spring sweater day (54)
it‘s as if we remember him.
(55)
I call to the children. (56)
We can see the mountains (57)
shimmering blue above the air. (58)
If you look really hard (59)
says my son the dreamer,
406
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
(60)
Juliati.
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
leaning out from the laundry‘s rigging, (61)
the work shirts fluttering like sails, (62)
you can see all the way to heaven. (63)
The notion to return home exposed from line is strongly rooted among the Chinese
immigrants especially when they find miseries in starting their new lives in America.
Prejudice and descrimination are two of social problems faced by these immigrats since their
arrival. The enactment of Exclusion Act in 1892 becomes the evidence of how this ethnic
group ever gets through negative treatments in American society. As a result, keeping their
identity as Chinese by building a strong bond among them to their homeland is strongly
found among the first generation. The notion of reviving their ethnicity as Chinese has in fact
been the main theme for contemporary Chinese American literature such as works of Amy
Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Cathy Song.
Conclusion
By analyzing the literary aspects of Cathy Song‘s ―Heaven‖ such as figurative languge and
relating it to the reality, it can be concluded that this poem recreates or reconstructs Chinese
American experience by presenting the past, present and future of the speaker. Through short
lines but strongly visualize the image of town in Colorado and the speaker‘s deprived life, the
poem presents the irony of Chinese American‘s life. Dream that they brought when they
arrived in America in 19th century is contrasted with the reality they have to face. The
longing to return to China is either intentionally or unintentionlly transferred from the
speaker‘s to her children. One of the ways to revive historical and emotional bonds is tracing
back the history just like what the speaker does in this poem. Her recalling to the history of
why and how she is in her present being can thus be called a reconstruction of Chinese
American‘s experience.
Juliati.
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
407
4th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2015
References
Bahador,R and Lashkarian, A.(2014). Riffaterre's Semiotics of Poetry in Re- Reading John
Keats' "Bright Star" and Sepehri's "To the Garden of Co-Travelers". Asian Journal of
Multidisciplinary Studies ISSN: 2321-8819 (Online) Volume 2, Issue 9, September
2014
Eagleton, Terry. 2007. How to Read Poem. USA: Blackwell Publishing
Holman, C Hugh. 1981. A Handbook to literature. Indiana: The Bobbs-Merrill Company,Inc
Jabrohim (ed). (2012). Teori Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar
Pradopo, Rachmat Djoko. (2007). Beberapa Teori Sastra, Metode Kritik, dan Penerapannya.
Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar
Rifattere, M.(1978). Semiotics of Poetry, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Riffaterre, M.(1983). Text Production, New York: Columbia University Press
Teeuw,A. (2003) Sastra dan Ilmu Sastra: Pengantar Teori Sastra. Jakarta : Pustaka Jaya
http://www.Cathy Song.com/biography/ Retrieved on July 4, 2015
http://www.enotes.com/topics/heaven Retrieved on Sept 9, 2014,
408
ISBN 978-602-73769-1-5
Juliati.