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Ada Zhang, The Sorrows of Others, A Public Space, 2023. 160 pgs.
Previously on Cha, Susan Blumberg-Kason reviewed Ada Zhangβs short story collection The Sorrows of Others. Primarily set in Texas, The Sorrows of Others juxtaposes the psyches of various Chinese American characters at different stages of their lives. My reading aligns with Blumberg-Kasonβs idea that βZhang doesnβt write characters that are good or bad, but rather complex with conflicting viewpointsβ. However, my interpretation deviates from her reading of these nuanced characters as vehicles for conveying the theme of empathy.
Instead, this review focuses on the way conflicting perspectives and values further fractures subgroups of the Chinese American diaspora into disoriented individuals. In particular, the use of domestic spaces as interrogation zones and the fluid adult versus child roles reflect the Chinese American diasporaβs struggle between conservative Chinese norms and progressive American values.
Throughout all the stories, the domestic space becomes a stage where family members scrutinise each otherβs pasts and vulnerabilities. In βCompromiseβ, the narrator considers the way interior spaces hint at the troubles within a home: βthe marks and stains and sunken places are proof of what has happened, but they cannot tell the whole storyβ (p. 128). Such a line foreshadows the return of her ill ex-husband whom she nurses despite his having left her for another woman in China many years earlier. The domestic spaceβs intensity reaches points of catastrophe in βKnowingβ, which depicts a mother repeatedly swearing as she and her children desperately rescue laundry from the rain. The scene feels like a battle between good and evil as the narrator Eileen laments about her aching arms while the clothesline bounces βlike it was laughing at usβ (p. 113).
The notion of the domestic space as an interrogation zone becomes literal in βThe Subjectβ and βSilenceβ. As part of a university assignment in βThe Subjectβ, the narrator conducts an interview with her housemate, an elderly Chinese woman named Granny Tan. The divide between the interviewee and interviewer constantly alternates: the narrator asks about Granny Tanβs childhood on the Chinese countryside and throughout the Cultural Revolution; Granny Tan elicits responses about the narratorβs familial issues and tendency to focus on individual feelings rather than social obligation. A striking conflict revealed in their dynamic conversation is the way Granny Tan breaches the social justice shibboleths that the narrator and her American-born peers take for granted. For example, Granny Tan comments on how βthis country cares too much about Black people and homosexualsβ (p. 15) and expresses cynicism towards the melting pot ideal (βitβs hard for people of different backgrounds to agreeβ, p. 15). The friction between Granny Tan and the narratorβs politics reveals the fragility of multicultural societies that celebrate diversity while downplaying the fact that the cultures within it are often insular and suspicious of outsiders.
βSilenceβ explores the interactions between Meng and her granddaughter Hui after Huiβs heartbreak. Keeping with the motif of interrogation, the story indicates that βMeng had gotten used to fielding [Huiβs] questionsβ (p. 53) about romance which were really reflections of Huiβs current love-related problems. Similar to βThe Subjectβ, Meng and Huiβs dialogue casts them as representations of conflicting traditional Chinese collectivism and progressive American notions of relationships. For Meng, marriage is primarily social phenomenon that affects an entire community, hence her attendance at her ex-husbandβs second marriage in order to help him save face. In contrast, Huiβs comments like βsounds awkwardβ (p. 56) in response to Mengβs presence at the ex-husbandβs marriage and βit sounds like you two were not compatibleβ (p. 57) illustrate her western image of romance as an intimate connection between two people. Despite the womenβs generational differences, Meng and Hui convey sympathy for one another against the backdrop of disappointed romantic hopes.
While βSilenceβ and βThe Subjectβ depict the exchange between conservative parents and progressive children, the fluid adult-child roles throughout the other stories represent vacillations between conservative Chinese norms and the adoptive American contextβs progressivism. At times, the conservative older generationβs values are internalised into a kind of superego for the younger, American-born generation. This is the case in βProprietyβ when the narrator Jia imagines the spectre of her disapproving mother while reflecting on her casual sexual encounter βin that room in that ugly apartment with that ordinary manβ (p. 50). In contrast, βThe Sorrows of Othersβ subverts the adult-child roles as Xiao An uses a dating website to match her father Songhao to a Chinese woman named Yulan.
At other times, the American-born generation tries to pass as culturally authentic without addressing contradictions between their eldersβ conservative values and their liberal lifestyles. For example, in βThe Subjectβ, the narrator describes her hipster-friendsβ βpalpable fearβ¦ that one could never be poor enough or of-colour enough to outweigh whatever privileges one hadβ (p.2). Their smugness about having βa real one [i.e., an authentic Chinese person] among usβ reveals their superficial idea of working-class migrants as an aesthetic, rather than a product of brute historical and cultural forces. The narrator of βThe Subjectβ also fantasises about herself as a poor, ethnically immersed artist: βI wrote my obituary: βIn college she livedβ¦ in a predominantly Chinese immigrant communityβ¦ She lived prudently and apart from distractions, so she could focus on her artβ¦ββ (p. 3). Yet while composing her bio, the narrator fails to recognise that the preoccupation with crafting her personal narrative embodies modern American individualism. Zhang further mocks the progressive hipster generationβs vanity in βProprietyβ when Jia struggles to βwring meaning out of the vaguenessβ (p. 41) in her dateβs pseudo-profound bullshit.
The stories also subvert the typical divide between conservative Chinese-born elders and progressive American-born youths. In βOne Dayβ, it is the child-protagonist Helen who is insistent on rules during a craft project and is βalready sick of the worldβ (p. 66). Meanwhile, her father expresses openness, shown when he saves the teacher from potential embarrassment by requesting Helen hide her being startled at the teacherβs sneeze. In βSister Machineryβ, the parents Clarissa and Eric are the hipsters that βfeel the need to document everythingβ (p.102) and engage in trendy hobbies like succulent-growing and βa class on motivational speakingβ (p. 101). Nevertheless, details like βthe apple pie that turned out to be half-apple, half Korean pearβ (p. 106) suggest an inability to feel fully assimilated into mainstream American culture. The resulting discomfort is borne by their two daughters, Pearl and the narrator Jessica, who grieve a destabilised sense of familial order after the death of their middle sister Emily.
Individuals within the same generation also clash over each otherβs differing desires to cling to tradition versus liberation. βJuliaβ follows two best friends, Julia and Esther, who grow apart as Julia marries and mellows out in her judgements of others while Esther is βstuck in collegeβ (p. 83). Julia and Estherβs divergence in life priorities is clear when Esther derides Juliaβs settlement into middle-class comfort (βyou and Rooney and your attorney husbands can get together in your big housesβ, p. 84) and Julia remarks on Estherβs contempt for stability. In βAny Good Wifeββ the differences between Pingβs desire for familiarity and his wife Ailianβs embrace of American life is depicted through their meal preferences. βAny Good Wifeβ first sets up the hilarity of consumer culture through jingles like βour food is rated g/greatβ and generic Good Housekeeping magazine. Ailian embraces the American housewife routine through her cooking explorations that included unfamiliar foods, such as vegetable salads, potato salads, tri-colour pasta salads and Devilβs cake. In contrast, Pingβs wariness of the new foods such as sliced vegetables trapped in jelly, mayonnaise, icing and medium rare meat represents his alienation from American everyday life. βJuliaβ and βAny Good Wifeβ show how connection disintegrates in friendships and marriages when the individuals involved cling to different eras.
Collectively, the stories highlight the complexities of relationships in a migrant context. Between adults and children, children are linguistically and socially adept in the adoptive country yet lack their parentsβ cultural rootedness. Between peers, some people like Ailian embrace American prosperity and liberties while Ping remains wedded to traditional ideas of domesticity. In forcing characters to confront one another as evolving individuals, Zhang rejects reductive identity politics while still showcasing the distinct linguistic and cultural aspects of her charactersβ Chinese and Chinese-American heritage.
Also see the following review on the same work in Cha:
How to cite: An, Frances. βA Fractured Chinese American Diaspora in Ada Zhang’s The Sorrows of Others.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 08 May 2023, chajournal.blog/2023/05/08/sorrows/
Frances AnΒ is a Vietnamese-Australian fiction and non-fiction writer based in Perth. She is interested in the literatures of Communism, moral self-perception, white-collar misconduct and NhαΊ‘c VΓ ng (Yellow/Gold Music). She has performed/published in theΒ Sydney Review Of Books,Β Seizure Online,Β Cincinnati Review, Sydney Writers Festival,Β Star 82, among other venues. She received a Create NSW Early Career Writers Grant 2018, partial scholarship to attend the Disquiet Literary Program 2019, and 2020 Inner City Residency (Perth, Australia). She is completing a PhD in Psychology at the University Of Western Australia on motivations behind “curbstoning” (data falsification in market research).
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