TEXT CHOSEN:
I have chosen a text to read for my midterm: Small Beauty by Jia Quing Wilson-Yang.
DESCRIPTION/SUMMARY:
Here is what this text means to me: This text does not have a particular meaning to me. I don’t typically read stories with queer protagonists and thus the meaning of this text is sort of my own exploration into the narratives of another perspective. I am fascinated by the symbolism and inter-generational depictions as well as the inclusion of ghosts. I hope to explore the relationship between flashbacks and visitations as they occur in this novel.
AUDIENCE SPECULATION:
The intended audience I am imagining for my close-reading essay is: College level readers curious about the way flashbacks and spirits are used in storytelling.
FORMAL AND GENERIC CONVENTIONS:
The 2-3 formally/generically similar texts I have discovered through research are:
- Ratatouille
- Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
- No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
My specific interest in Small Beauty is its inclusion and use of flashback and memory to evoke visceral images of people, akin to the way ghosts’ function in stories. Furthermore, I am curious about the juxtaposition of the use of ghosts in Small Beauty and the use of flashback. In my research on texts which include either time travel, flashback, or exploration of relationship. Thus, I think a genre classification which all these shares could be speculative drama. In speculative fiction, in my understanding, the motifs used are neither of science fiction nor straightforward reality. In a drama, to my understanding, characters are immersed in emotional and deep plots which focus on interpersonal relationships and happenings. Small Beauty seems to be both. The following texts may not necessarily be speculative dramas, but they do share elements and conventions with Small Beauty.
While Small Beauty does not involve literal time travel, Mei’s story is certainly not linear. Thus, it shares elements with Before the Coffee Gets Cold in the sense that the story evokes notions of time travel to allow people to find a better understanding of things that happened to them (Amazon). Is that not the reason Mei lives so long in her memories?
In being like Ratatouille, Small Beauty relies heavily on flashbacks and memory, as does Ratatouille (Industrial Scripts). Ratatouille also has the spiritual figure of the chef who represents the face of the restaurant which could be compared to the spirits who guide Mei at the close of Small Beauty (Ratatouille).
No Longer Human, in its amazon description, does not appear to focus on time travel or flashbacks, but does emphasize the progression of time and “connectedness” (Amazon). This progression of time and relationship aspect is paramount to the content of Mei’s flashbacks, so I feel it is related.
All these texts are loosely related to the genre conventions I decided upon in describing Small Beauty as a piece of speculative fiction. Each has some aspect which relates to either flashback, memory, relationships, or time travel. Though, each text is completely distinct and unique in its own genre classifications, they share these attributes.
Citations:
“15 Brilliant Flashback Examples for Screenwriters and Filmmakers.” Industrial Scripts. April 17, 2020. https://industrialscripts.com/flashback-examples/v
Ratatouille. Directed by Brad Bird, Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures, 2007.
“Before the Coffee Gets Cold.” Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Before-Coffee-Gets-Toshikazu-Kawaguchi/dp/1529029589/ref=asc_df_1529029589/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385670979569&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1849302271193197111&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010770&hvtargid=pla-884197583437&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=79288121475&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=385670979569&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1849302271193197111&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010770&hvtargid=pla-884197583437. Accessed October 1, 2020.
“No Longer Human.” https://www.amazon.com/No-Longer-Human-Osamu-Dazai/dp/0811204812/ref=asc_df_0811204812/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312731277354&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1849302271193197111&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010770&hvtargid=pla-468704610656&psc=1 Amazon. Accessed October 1, 2022.
Some of the generic conventions of these texts are
I plan to talk about the use of flashbacks and ghosts as motifs in storytelling. I will also touch on the ways these things create a story which is about self-identification and self-understanding. This book is described as psychological and transgender fiction. I may touch on these descriptions in the conclusion. I do not think that I want to classify the novel as transgender fiction just because it includes a transgender character because that feels a bit like tokenism. Thus, I would describe this novel as unconventional queer fiction with a focus on Asian Canadian and transgender stories. However, I am not sure how to extrapolate my description to a specific genre.
CONTENT:
I intend to talk about my ghosts, flashbacks, and memories as they occur in Small Beauty in relation to Mei’s journey to self-understanding and self-acceptance. I want to touch on the way that there is a schism between the kinds of ghosts we see in memory versus the kinds of ghosts which appear in the temporal space.
COURSE THEMATICS:
I think that my object intersects/overlaps with class in these ways: identity, queerness, ambivalence, and possibly disidentification
QUESTIONS:
I am struggling with/ cannot seem to figure out/ do not know how to approach the consolidation of my argument. I feel like I have a lot of ideas that may not be abbreviated for the sake of clarity in my essay. I would like more clarification on genre classifications. I need support with reviewing my thesis statement and close readings.