Cutting_the_Tongue

8/7/2019 Cutting_the_Tongue

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CuttingtheTongue:Bilingualism

andtheDiscoveryofVoicein

RichardRodriguez'HungerofMemoryand

MaxineHongKingston'sWomanWarrior

I

Writers (andteachers of wr it ing) oftenspeakof thed iscoveryof voice. For a

creat ive wr iter , f indingone's voice is a wayofnamingviametonymythat moment

whenanauthor d iscovers auniquestyle andsubject and, no longer needingto

imitate h is or her masters , learns to speak in apersonal voice. (An imposs ib i l i ty, of

course, weare now ledto bel ieve, in th is ageof thedeathof theauthor andthe

anxietyof inf luencecreatedbypowerful ancestral texts!) For astudent , f inding

one's voice has several prerequis i tes: thedevelopment of a mindandthed iscovery

of one's own ideas, thedes ire for express ion, the fe lt needtodomorethan just

what theteacher wants andbecomeawr iter or speaker for i ts ownrewards,

Ordinar i ly , d iscoveryof voice takes p lace in a languagea languagewhichhas

adetermining inf luenceonthenatureof that voice. Evenwithout beingad isc ip le of

theSapir Whorfhypothesis , i t i s poss ib le to accept , i s i t not , that an individual 's

language, andan individual 's speechcommunity, haveaprofound inf luenceonthe

volumeandp itch, tenor andvehic le , content andstyleontheverysenseofse l fof

aspeaker or wr iter 's voice.

Proponents of Engl ish as anat ional languagewould, of course, havethat

languagebeEngl ish. For theb i l ingual , however , thed iscovery is compl icated. For the

b i l ingualRichardRodr iguezandMaxineHongKingstonthetongue is "cut": the

voice is d iv ided.

I I

Best knownfor h is controvers ial opposit ionto both

b i l ingual educat ionandaff i rmat ive act ionstandswhichhave

earnedh imthe incongruoussupport of manyontheAmerican

r ight , R ichardRodr iquez th inks of h imself , however , as "acomic

v ict imof twocultures" (Hunger 5) . "Thereare those in White

Americawhowouldannoint metop layout for themsomedrama

ofancestral reconci l iat ion" ( Hunger 5) . Here jects therole . His


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The Col lected Works of David Lavery 2

autobiography is insteadthestoryof aneducat ion, as i t f i rst words (and i ts

subst i t le) makec lear : " I havetakenCal iban's advice. I havestolentheir books. I wi l l

havesomerunof th is i s le" (Hunger 3) .

Hunger of Memory foregroundsthetwo languagesSpanishandEngl ishin

which i ts author 's l i fe has moved, g iv ing h is b i l ingual ismcenter stagewith another ,

interconnectedthemeofh is autobiography: themovement frompr ivate to publ ic

l i fe . Growingup in ab i l ingual wor ld, thesonofMexican immigrants , Rodr iguez

"remainedc lo isteredbysounds, t imidandshy in publ ic , toodependent onvoices at

home."Thoughadmittedly"anextremelyhappychi ld at home" ( Hunger 17), he knew

noneof thecommongradat ionsbetweenpubl ic andpr ivate: outs idewaspubl ic ;

ins idewaspr ivate. "Just openingor c los ing thescreendoor behindme,"herecal ls ,

"wasan important exper ience" ( Hunger 1617). In amemorable passage, hedescr ibes

theanxiety that gr ippedthehouseevery t imethedoor bel l rang (17). As achi ld ,

Rodr iguezrecal ls , he "couldn't real ly bel ievethat Spanishwasapubl ic language, l ike

Engl ish" (16). " I wrongly imaginedthat Engl ish was intr ins ical ly a publ ic languageand

Spanishan intr ins ical ly pr ivate one" ( Hunger 20).

Thoughh is parents struggledwith Engl ish, their d i ff icu lt ies hadnoser ious

personal consequences, saveone: i t madetheir ch i ldrennervous, weakenedtheir

"c lutchingtrust in their protect ionandpower" ( Hunger 1415). His mother became

the"publ ic voice of the fami ly. Onoff ic ia l bus iness, i t wasshe, not myfather , one

wouldusual ly hear onthephoneor in stores, talking to strangers" ( Hunger 24). I t

wasshewhoansweredthedoorbel l . As chi ldren, Rodr iguezandh is brothers and

s isters cametoth inkof their father as shyandreserved, andyet memoryte l ls h imas

wel l that h is t imidness must havebeen in fact a cu ltural byproduct :

when I 'd watchh imspeakingSpanishwith re lat ives. Us ing Spanish, hewas

quicklyeffus ive. Especial ly whentalking with other men,h is voice would

spark, f l icker , f lare al ive with sounds. In Spanish, he

expressed ideas and feel ings herare ly revealed in Engl ish.

With f i rmSpanishsounds, heconveyedconfidenceand

author ityEngl ish wouldnever al lowhim. ( Hunger 25)

For Rodr iguezh imself , Engl ish wasat f i rst equal ly d i ff icu lt

and int imidat ing. "Mywords,"heremembers, "could not

stretch far enoughto formcomplete thoughts. Andthe


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words I d id speak I d idn't knowwel l enoughtomake intod ist inct sounds."Thoseto

whomhespokeas achi ld , herecal ls , "wouldusual ly lower their heads, better to

hear what I was trying to say" ( Hunger 14).

Thoughh is parents encouragedh imtomaster Engl ish more fu l ly thanwould

ever beposs ib le for them, ("Speakto us in Ing les") , thoughtheythemselves gained

confidence from"thedramat ic Americanizat ionof their ch i ldren" ( Hunger 23), the

Spanishtheycont inuedtospeekat homeengenderedaconfus ionof realms.

myparents [Rodr iguezremembers] wouldsaysomethingto meand I would

feel embracedbythesoundsof their words. Thosesoundssaid: " I am

speakingwith ease in Spanish. I amaddress ing you in words I never usewith

los gr ingos. I recognize youas someonespecial , c lose, l ike nooneouts ide.

Youbelongwith us. In the fami ly." ( Hunger 16)

Late in thebook, headmits that evenaccurate quotat ionmisrepresents h is parents '

forpr ivateconsumptiononlyspeech: "myparents donot t ru lyspeakonmypages. I

may forcetheir words to standbetweenquotat ionmarks. With everyword, however ,

I changewhat wassaid only to me" ( Hunger 186) .

For Rodr iguez, the languageofhomethusremainedtender andsoothing,

int imate, but theal ien languageof thestreet becameaperpetual reminder of h is

andh is fami ly 's strangeness. " I wasa l i s teningchi ld ," Rodr iguezrecal ls , "careful to

hear thed i fferent soundsofSpanishandEngl ish" ( Hunger 13):

I would . . . hear theh ighnasal notes of middlec lass Americanspeech. The

air st i r redwith sound. Sometimes, evennow,when I havebeentravel ing

abroad for several weeks, I wi l l hear what I heardas aboy. In hotel lobbies or

airports , in Turkeyor Brazi l , someAmericanswi l l pass , andsuddenly I wi l l

hear i t againtheh ighsoundofAmericanvoices. For a fewseconds, I wi l l

hear i t with p leasure, for i t i s nowthesoundofmysocietyareminder of

home. . . . When I wasaboy, th ings wered i fferent . Theaccent of los gr ingos

wasnever p leas ing nor was i t hardto hear . Crowdsat Safewayor at bus stops

wouldbenoisywith sound. And I wouldbe forcedto edgeaway fromthe

chirp ingchatter aboveme. (Hunger 14)


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The psycholog ica l e f fec ts of h i s l i s tening were indeedprofound. " I l ived in awor ld

magical ly compoundedofsounds,"Rodr iquezwr ites . " I remainedachi ld longer than

most ; I l ingeredtoo long, poisedat theedgeof languageoften fr ightenedbythe

soundsof los gr ingos, del ightedbythesoundsofSpanishat home. I sharedwith my

fami lya languagethat wasstart l ing lyd i fferent fromthat used in thegreat c i ty

aroundus" (Hunger 16). I t wasonlymuch later , he explains , that he learnedto fuse

thesoundofwordsandcontent; only later that languagebecametransparent

(Hunger 22).

His ownexper ienceof l iv ing in two languagecommunit ies l ies at theheart of

Rodr iguez' strongandcontrovers ial standagainst b i l ingual educat ion. "I t i s not

poss ib le ," he ins ists , "for ach i ldanychi ldever to useh is fami ly 's language in

school . Not to understandth is is to misunderstandthepubl ic uses of school ing and

to tr iv ia l ize thenatureof int imate l i feafami ly 's language" ( Hunger 12). As apubl ic

act , andnever "an inevitable or natural step in growingup" ( Hunger 48), educat ion

must takep lace in thepubl ic language. "Educat ion is a long, unglamorous, even

demeaningprocessanurtur ing never natural to thepersononewasbeforeone

enteredac lassroom"(Hunger 68) .

Admitt ing that i t wouldhavep leasedh imtohear Spanishspoken in school"I

wouldhave fe lt much less afraid. I would havetrustedthemandrespondedwith

ease"henevertheless recognizes that b i l ingual educat ion"wouldhavedelayedfor

how longpostponed?havingto learnthe languageofpubl ic society. I would have

evaded . . . learningthegreat lessonofschool , that I hadapubl ic ident ity." "What I

neededto learn in school ," h is adult se l f real izes , "wasthat I hadther ightandthe

obl igat iontospeakthepubl ic languageof los gr ingos" ( Hunger 19). "Theoddtruth

is ," Rodr iguezsuggests , "that myf i rst gradec lassmates could havebecomebi l ingual ,

in theconvent ional senseof that word, moreeas i ly than I ."

Hadtheybeentaught (as uppermiddlec lass ch i ldrenare oftentaught ear ly)

a second language l ike Spanishor French, theycould haveregarded i t s imply

as that : another publ ic language. In mycasesuchb i l ingual ismcould not have

beensoquicklyachieved. What I d id not bel ievewasthat I could speaka

s ing le publ ic language. (Hunger 19)

Rodr iguezrecal ls theverydayhed iscoveredh is publ ic voice.


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Oneday in school I ra isedmyhandtovolunteer ananswer. I spokeout in a

loudvoice. And I d id not th ink i t remarkable whentheent ire c lass

understood. That day, I movedvery far fromthed isadvantagedchi ld I had

beenonlydays ear l ier . Thebel ief, thecalmingassurancethat I be longed in

publ ic , hadat last takenhold. ( Hunger 22)

His growingpubl ic competence in Engl ish hadanestrangingeffect at home. Unable

for a t imeto"affordto admire h is parents ," hebeganto transfer h is a l leg ianceto h is

teachers (Hunger 49). Caught in i t ia l ly in h is own intercultural cognit ive d issonance,

he fe lt anger towardh is mother and father for havingpushedh imtowardc lassroom

success (Hunger 50). Often, hewouldh ide in h is room,"hoard[ ing] thep leasures of

learning"; whenSpanishspeakingre lat ives v is i ted, hewould leavethehouse"

(Hunger 51).

"Today I hear ab i l ingual educator say that ch i ldren loseadegreeof

' individual i ty ' bybecomingass imi lated intopubl ic society. . . . " Suchth inking, he

f inds, i s gross ly s impl ist ic : b i l ingual ists . . . scornthevalueandnecess ityof

ass imi lat ion. Theydonot seemtoreal ize that thereare twowaysaperson is

individual ized. Sotheydonot real ize that whi le onesuffers ad iminishedsenseof

pr ivate individual i ty bybecomingass imi lated intosociety, suchass imi lat ionmakes

poss ib le theachievement of publ ic individual i ty" ( Hunger 26) .

In their faci le equat ionofseparateness and individual i ty, b i l ingual ists

over lookthes imple fact that only in pr ivatewith int imatesis separateness

fromthecrowdaprerequis i te for individual i ty. (An int imatedrawsmeapart ,

te l ls methat I amunique, unl ike al l others . ) In publ ic , bycontrast , fu l l

individual i ty is achieved, paradoxical ly, by thosewhoare able to consider

themselves members of thecrowd. (Hunger 27)

For Rodr iquez, then, thegreat l ie of b i l ingual educat ion is s imply that i t wi l l "g ive

students asenseof their ident ityapart fromthepubl ic" ( Hunger 34).

I I I

While st i l l quite young, MaxineHongKingstonhadher tonguecut byher

mother . "Shepushedmytongueupands l icedthe frenum.Or maybeshesnipped i t

with apair of nai l sc issors" (Woman 190). This wasnoact of female uponfemale


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vio lencelike foot b indingor c l i tor idectomy. Nor was i t a fami lysecret : Kingston's

mother informedher uncomprehendingdaughter of thedeedear ly on, weavingthe

tale intothe fabr ic of her cont inuing"talkstory"melangeofChinesetradit ionand

fami lyh istory, f ict ionandnonf ict ion, assur ing her as wel l that , as theonlyone in

the fami ly in needofsuchtreatment, shealonereceived i t ( Woman 191). But the

act ionprovedtobethegreat connundrumofKingston's l i fe and, not surpr is ing ly,

providedthecontrol l ing metaphor of her autobiographynotto ment ionthepresent

essay.

"Sometimes,"Kingstonte l ls us , " I fe l t veryproudthat mymother committed

suchapowerful act uponme."But shealso foundhersel f terr i f iedthat "the f i rst

th ing mymother d id whenshesawmewasto cut mytongue" (Woman 190). " I used

to cur l upmytongue in front of themirror ," Kingstonrecal ls , "andtautenmyfrenum

intoawhite l ine, i tse l f as th in as a razor b lade. I sawnoscars in mymouth. I thought

perhaps I hadhadtwofrena, andshehadcut one. I madeother chi ldrenopentheir

mouthsso I could comparetheirs to mine. I sawperfect p inkmembranesstretching

intoprecise edges that lookedeasyenoughtocut"

(Woman 190). Throughout her chi ldhoodshe fe lt

deepsympathy for "thebabywhosemother waited

with sc issors or kni fe in handfor i t to cryand

then, when i ts mouthwaswideopen l ike ababy

b ird 's , cut" (Woman 190).

As achi ld , Kingstontr ied, unsuccessfu l ly, to

fathomher mother 's reasons. Awareofher

decidedlyunChinesetendencyto sayd isreputable

th ings out loud, shewondered i f "Maybemymother

wasafraid that I 'd say th ings l ike ["dogvomit"] out loudandsohadcut mytongue."

Or perhapsher tonguehadbeencut in anattemptto improveher awful voice. She

remembers her parents cal l ing in awealthyneighbor for her expert opin ion: "You

better dosomethingwith th is one . . . ," theWoman hadrecommended. "Shehas an

uglyvoice. Shequacks l ike apressedduck" ( Woman 223) .

Later , Kingstonconfrontedher mother d irect ly, seekingto understandthe

log ic of her assault .

"Whydid youdothat to me,Mother?"

"I to ld you."


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"Tel l meagain."

"I cut i t so that youwouldnot betonguet ied. Your tonguewouldbeable to

move in any language. You' l l be able to speak languages that are complete lyd i fferent

fromoneanother . You' l l be able to pronounceanything. Your frenum lookedtoo

t ight to dothoseth ings, so I cut i t ."

"But isn 't a readytongueanevi l?"Kingstonasks, c i t ing Chineseconvent ional

wisdom. "Things are d i fferent in th is ghost country," her mother repl ies ( Woman

19091). (The"ghosts" that Kingston's motherandthebook's subt it lerefer to are,

of course, other Americans; for Kingston's immigrant Chinese fami ly, everyonenot

ChineseGarbageCol lector Ghosts , Sales Ghosts , WinoGhosts , TaxCol lector Ghosts ,

BalckGhosts , Su itcase Inspector Ghosts , andTeacher Ghosts , etc.is not quite real . )

As weshal l see, Kingstoncamefor a t imetodoubt theeffect iveness of her mother 's

surgery, but in theendsheunderstandsandaccepts i ts intercultural wisdom.

WehaveseenhowSpanishbecameproblemat ic dur ing RichardRodr iguez'

ass imi lat ion, analbatross aroundtheneckof oneanxious to acquire anEngl ish

educat ion. Kingston's languageofor ig in becomesdownright embarrass ing. "Chinese

communicat ion,"Kingstonrecal ls , "was loud, publ ic ." ToChineseears , at least , the

language i tse l f canbeheard"fromblocks away" ( Woman 13, 199). (This qual i ty of

the languagehas c lear ly ident i f iable or ig ins: "The immigrants I know,"sheexplains ,

"have loudvoices, unmodulatedto Americantonesevenafter years away fromthe

vi l lagewheretheycal ledtheir fr iendships out across the f ie lds" [ Woman 12] . )

But , sheconfesses, " I t i sn 't just the loudness" that bothers her .

I t i s thewayChinesesounds, ch ingchongugly, to Americanears , not beaut i fu l

l ike Japanesesayonarawordswith theconsonants andvowels as regular as

I tal ian. Wemakeguttural peasant noises andTonDucThangnamesyoucan't

remember. (Woman 199)

Engl ish, however , i s in i t ia l ly equal ly perplexingas i t was for RichardRodr iquez: the

Chinesethemselves, Kingstonexplains , "can't hear Americansat a l l : the language is

toosoft . . . " (Woman 199), and"AmericanChineseg ir ls ," seekingto imitate thehost

cu lture 's ways, "hadto whisper to make [ themselves] Americanfeminine."The

attempt, shete l ls us , was largelyunsuccessfu l , for in their invent ionof"an

Americanfemininespeakingpersonal i ty," theybecametotal ly inaudib le ( Woman


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199200). ThoughKingstonwassometimesable to f indher voice at Chineseschool ,

for themost part sheremaineds i lent , d isgustedbyher voice: "acr ippledanimal

runningonbroken legs. Youhear sp l inters in myvoice, bonesrubbing jaggedagainst

oneanother" (Woman 196) .

Kingston's great d i ff icu lt ies with us ing Engl ish in publ ic causeher to wonder i f

her mother 's surgeryhadnot beenradical enough, i f

sheshould havecut more, scrapedawaytherest of the frenumskin, because I

havea terr ib le t imetalking. . . . When I went to kindergartenandhadto

speakEngl ish for the f i rst t ime, I becames i lent . A dumbnessashamesti l l

cracks myvoice in two,evenwhen I want to say"hel lo"casual ly, or askan

easyquest ion in front of thecheckout counter , or askd irect ions of a bus

dr iver . I s tand frozen, or I hold upthe l ine with thecomplete grammatical

sensethat comessqueakingout at imposs ib le length. "What d id yousay?"

says thecabdr iver , or "Speakup,"so I haveto performagain, onlyweaker

thesecondt ime. A te lephonecal l makesmythroat b leedandtakes upthat

day's courage. I t spoi ls mydaywith se l fd isgust when I hear mybrokenvoice

comeskit ter ing out intotheopen. I t makespeople winceto hear i t . (Woman

191)

Thesourceofher s i lence, however , i s morethanphysio logical . Cultural forces are at

work. She f inds hersel f unable to talkabout her fami ly 's past evenbeforeher

favor ite teacher: "Mythroat cut off thewordssi lence in front of themost

understandingteacher . Thereweresecrets never to besaid in front of theghosts ,

immigrat ionsecrets whosete l l ing could get us sent backto China" ( Woman 213) .

"Other Chineseg ir ls ," Kingstonacknowledges, "d id not talke i ther , so I knewthe

s i lencehadto dowith beingaChineseg ir l" (Woman 193).

As shedescr ibes in a lengthyvignette, KingstononceattackedaChinese

c lassmatewhorefusedto talkat a l l , project ing al l her ownanxiet ies , personal and

cultural , about publ ic speechontoher . " 'You're goingto talk, ' I said , myvoice,

steadyandnormal , as i t i s whentalking to the fami l iar , theweak, andthesmal l . ' I

amgoingto makeyoutalk, yous issyg ir l . '" After tortur ing her in aschool lavatory,

shehersel f becamemyster iously i l l for e ighteenmonths. After her i l lness , though,

nothingchanged. Ventur ing outs ide, intothepubl ic wor ld, sheagain confrontedher

central problem.


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Theskyandthetrees, thesunwere immenseno longer framedbyawindow,

no longer grayedwith a f ly screen. I sat downonthes idewalk in amazement

then ights , thestars . But at school I hadto f igure out again howtotalk.

(Woman 212)

L ike Hungerof Memory , WomanWarr io r i s c lear ly thestoryof a b i l ingual ethnic

American's struggle to f indapubl ic voice.

Throughout that struggle , Kingstonkept a recordof the in just ices she

sufffered: "Maybebecause I was theonewith thetonguecut loose, I hadgrown

ins1demea l i s t of over twohundredth ings that I hadto te l l mymother so that she

wouldknowthetrueth ings about meandtostopthepain in mythroat ." This l i s t

wasnot kept out of sp ite; i ts d isc losure, shehoped,wouldbr ing her muchmorethan

revenge. Givenvoice, i t wouldproveto be, shedreamed,nothing less thanan

intercultural talking cure: "I f only I could let mymother knowthe l i st , sheandthe

wor ldwouldbecomemore l ike me,and I wouldnever bealoneagain" ( Woman 229) .

In Woman Warr io r ' s f inal chapter , shete l ls of a

n ight in the fami ly laundry, in themidst of a hurr iedly

eatenworkingd inner , whenher "throat burst open"

(Woman 233)andshe f inal ly del iveredher l i s t . Foremost

amongher complaints , of course, washer mother 's cutt ing

of her tongue. "Youcan't stopmefromtalking,"she

screams. "Youtr iedto cut off mytongue, but i t d idn't

work.""I cut i t ," her mother repl ies , "to makeyoutalk

more, not less , youdummy" (Woman 235). As anadult ,

evenafter her talking cure, Kingstonadmits , her "throat

pain alwaysreturns,"unless , that is , sheuses her newly

d iscoveredvoice, "unless I te l l what I real ly th ink, whether

or not I lose my jobor sp it out gaucher ies al l over aparty. I 've stoppedchecking

'b i l ingual ' on jobappl icat ions" (Woman 239) .

IV

AttheendofWoman Warr io r , after noapparent trans it ion, Kingstonre lates

thestoryof Ts 'ai Yen, a Chinesepoetess born in thesecondcenturyA.D. whowas

held in capt iv i tybyabarbar iantr ibe. In her l i fe with thesepr imit ives, who, to


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The Collected Works of David Lavery 10

Chineseeyes, werenot evenhuman, legendhas i t Ts 'ai Yen f inal ly foundthemeans

to create apoetry that accompaniedtheir own indig inousmusic, p layedonreed

p ipes.

"Themusic d isturbedTsai Yen,"Kingstonexplains , addingher ownvoice to a

story to ld throughout Chineseh istory; " i ts sharpness and i ts cold madeher ache. I t

d isturbedher so that shecould not concentrate onher ownthoughts" (243). Though

thesongsshes ings te l l a tale of longing for theMiddle Kingdom,of her nostalg ia for

home, theyattain nevertheless akindofuniversal i ty: "Her word, Kingstonexplains ,

"seemedtobeChinese, but thebarbar ians understoodtheir sadness andanger ."

"Sometimes, Kingston,"adds, her captors even"thought theycould catchbarbar ian

phrases about forever wander ing."F inal ly rans med,Tsai Yenreturnedhome. Again

Chinese, again human,nowshecrosspol lenated in theother d irect ion, seedingher

ownpoet ic t radit ionwith themusic of thebarbar ians, br ing ing"her songsback from

thesavage lands. . . . " Themost famousofher barbar ian inf luencedpoemswas

cal led" 'E ighteenStanzas for aBarbar ianReedPipe,"a song, Kingstonte l ls us in the

book's last l ine, whichthe"Chineses ing to their own instruments. I t t rans latedwel l"

(Woman 243) .

BothRodr iguezandKingston"translate wel l ." Rodr iguez' vers ionhas trag ic

e lements: "Mystory," Rodr iguezwr ites , "d isc loses . . . an essent ial mythof

ch i ldhoodinevitable pain. I f I rehearseherethechanges in mypr ivate l i fe after my

Americanizat ion, i t i s f inal ly to emphasize thepubl ic gain. The loss impl ies thegain"

(Hunger 27). Kingston's is essent ial ly comic; "Evennow,"shewr ites , in a

character ist ic passage, "Chinawrapsdouble b indsaroundmyfeet ." Woman Warr io r

f inds the imaginat ive meansto untangle them."Writ ing in the"nat ional language,"

bothd iscover their voice with in i t ; s ing their ownstor ies of ass imi lat ionto a fore ign

music, f indawayeven in their capt iv i ty to te l l of their ownsadness andanger with

suchpower and ins ight that evenmembers of thedominant culture can ident i fy with

their stor ies .

Cutting_the_Tongue

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