Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven Response Paper
Young Jean Lee's Ugly Feelings About Race And Gender
Karen Shimakawa
Karen Shimakawa, the author of the article “Young Jean Lee's Ugly Feelings About Race And Gender”
is essentially trying to prove that this play depicts the concerns that “characterizes recent postfeminism and post-race discourses” (Shimakawa 89). That being said, Karen Shimakawa reflects upon the fact that Young Jean Lee’s writing gives value to Sianne Ngai’s formulation of ‘ugly feelings’ – these include feelings like self-loathing, discomfort and boredom. Furthermore, she points out that this play is essentially reflective of Korean-American female identity by exemplifying the traditions and relationships that connect domestic material practices with one’s personal “story.” Shimakawa talks about the experience of seeing the production as a live spectator, including the image that one gets at the very start of the show. Continuing upon this point of ‘ugly feelings’ being the prevalent part of this play, she brings forth this racist self-loathing monologue that is immediately introduced in order to make a point. Shimakawa then speaks of Lee’s use of juxtapositions being the substance of the play – and how this “exotic spectacle” is another approach to captivate audiences and force them to understand this cultural perspective. Another method that Lee uses in her play is this use of stereotypes in Korean feminism. The stereotypical mentality is culminated in the women’s submissiveness as shown by the woman who gets slap. The use of animatedness is a deployment of sytel. Lee applies animation to demonstrate the racial interplay and the agitation of the racialized subjects.
In order to better understand Karen Shimakawa’s point, she employs animation and emotional interplay as asserted by Ngai. It is meant to create the ugliness of the racial feeling that the Asian American have towards the prejudice masters. Lee further uses the quasi-Korean dance with positional sounds of promiscuity to invoke the better understanding of the aspect of the Korean culture and their gesture to the westerners. The quest for the autonomy of the racialized subjects is also demonstrated through the use of the suicidal oriental woman. The domineering of the racial animations through reanimation is used to show how the racialized subjects can be made dead. In another attempt to create a universal understanding of the story, Lee uses “unsuspected liveliness” so as to create the vengeful effect on the scene. The animation thus tries to maintain the visibility and legibility of the stereotypes.
What I find to be the most interesting point in this article is the overall argument itself. While the choice of using ‘ugly feelings’ may be overwhelming for some, I personally feel as though it can be quite effective. While yes, it could most definitely pose a potential problem in that it has the ability to offend audiences, the language is so ruthless that it is almost their attempt of screaming to be heardor as Shimakawa puts it, a “slap in the face.” However, the ruthlessness is a blatant depiction of the Korean woman’s position in the society. As violent scenes engulf the shocked audience, a woman is literally slapped in the face. The play is a culmination of a society hell-bent on misconstrued beliefs and feelings inflicted by the very prejudiced exotic culture. In a rather cynical ambience, the pedagogical annotation of the protagonist takes center stage as women’s value in the society is clearly at stake. As events unfold on the stage, Lee’s didactical mannerism becomes clear-cut as a male voice is heard purposely asking a female if they could have a matter of delicacy. The theatrical infusion of the minority rage is evident in equal measure through paranoiac projections. As the Korean –American protagonist makes clear her covert loath for the whites, she creates emotional projections through irrational dictum and demonstration of the personality misappropriation. She claims that her inner self-hates the whites merely because other minorities hate them too. Through her insensitive assertions, she creates the feared animosity and skepticism on the critics of post-civil rights activism. There is growing concern over the proposition that creates a fresh feeling of discontent characterization of US as the post emotional society. Moreover, she expresses her disgust with the postmodern culture that appears to have parasitically engulfed other cultures. She asserts that the existence of numerous cultures has been reigned on by the parasitic American culture that attempts to create an umbrella of belonging that pits the society against all-encompassing ideologies like Americanism. While there is the clear line of demarcation in the emotional exhibition of the protagonist, she relives the infamous memories of slavery and alludes to the Serbian fall in the hands of Kosovo. She further asserts the authority and power upon the feeling that these are the weapons for resilient coexistent in an environment marred by racial profiling and relentless quest for social justice and affirmative action.
Work Cited
Karen Shimakawa (2007) Young Jean Lee's Ugly Feelings About Race And Gender, Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory, 17:1, 89-102, DOI: 10.1080/07407700701246323
Lee, Young Jean. Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven and Other Plays. New York, NY, USA: Theatre Communications Group, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 24 January 2016.
