海角大神

鈥淚 have no formed definition of this project except an intuition that you would listen and be attentive and somehow understand,鈥� Karen Tei Yamashita writes in Letters to Memory, her sagacious follow-up to her 2010 National Book Award finalist, 鈥淚 Hotel.鈥� Having built her significant literary reputation on eschewing conventional formats and easy labels, 鈥淟etters鈥� is no different. Even her 鈥渕emory鈥� is made 鈥渨ary [by her self-proclaimed] propensity for dishonesty or, as you say more kindly, fictionalizing.鈥�

Categorized as 鈥渘onfiction/memoir鈥� on the book鈥檚 back cover and enhanced with black-and-white photographic documentation, here鈥檚 what we know: Yamashita鈥檚 extended family, including her paternal grandmother and her seven adult children, were among the 110,000 Americans of Japanese descent imprisoned during World War II because of their heritage. Designated the family鈥檚 鈥渦seful repository鈥� 鈥� as writer and therefore聽de facto archivist 鈥� Yamashita has amassed 鈥渁 lifetime of stuff鈥� in multiples, collected as the 鈥溾�� at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where Yamashita is a literature professor. With the passing of all seven Yamashita nisei (second generation), including her father John, Yamashita has 鈥渆xtracted a sliver of this record to ponder some questions,鈥� she explains in her 鈥淭o Begin鈥�-introduction. 鈥淚 admit mine is a different or particular way of reading and seeing our story... Reader 鈥� gentle, critical, or however, I count on you, as another guide through this labyrinth.鈥�

Parsed into five main sections, Yamashita writes her 鈥淟etters To ...鈥� Poverty, Modernity, Love, Death, and Laughter 鈥� each addressed to 鈥渆pistolary muses鈥�: respectively in order, they are Homer (Iliad), Ishi (the last member of the Yahi tribe, but also the Japanese word for 鈥榮tone鈥�), Vyasa (The Mahabharata), Ananda (Buddha鈥檚 cousin and disciple), and Qohelet (Ecclesiastes). Yamashita clearly has an agenda: she aligns each letter-topic with a specific muse, to whom she reveals a corresponding part of her family鈥檚 story, then moves beyond personal details to illuminate a broader, contemporary context such as, say, today鈥檚 civil rights.

Take, for example, 鈥淟etters to Poverty,鈥� addressed to Homer, in which Yamashita introduces her family鈥檚 World War II incarceration. 鈥淧overty came to be understood as a lack of justice,鈥� Yamashita clarifies, as she explains how her 鈥渇ather and his family lost their freedom鈥� on April 30, 1942, herded into Northern California鈥檚 Tanforan Racetrack before forced 鈥渨artime removal鈥� to Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. While the family is imprisoned, sixth sibling Kay 鈥� accompanied by her mother (Yamashita鈥檚 grandmother), Tomi 鈥� is summoned to Washington, D.C. to 鈥渢estify on behalf of the United States鈥� in a treason case against David Warren Ryder, who was a last-minute substitute speaker for a 1940 University of California, Berkeley聽campus meeting hosted by the Nisei Student Women鈥檚 Club of which Kay was president. 鈥淲hat, for me, is tragicomic,鈥� Yamashita marvels at the astonishing levels of irony, 鈥渋s that Kay, a non-alien citizen, and her enemy alien mother, whose entire people had been incarcerated for alleged possible treason, were permitted free passage to testify against others for treasonable acts.鈥�

Yamashita chooses Homer as her empathic audience for his familiarity with war, relocation, loss of home and country. Beyond expected accusation and condemnation, however, Yamashita also considers reactions that include 鈥渃harity鈥� and 鈥渇orgiveness.鈥� That the racially-targeted immigration laws which forbade naturalization for Yamashita鈥檚 immigrant grandmother seem all too familiar now, that the eliding of civil rights is very much a current looming threat, speak volumes as to Yamashita鈥檚 awareness of how fear-based, oppressive history is, 70-plus years later, repeating the same mistakes against other families, other communities, other countries.聽

Four more times in the sections that follow, Yamashita alchemizes her family history into broader warnings and enlightening revelations. Before she鈥檚 finished, she channels the personal once more, addressing 鈥淒ear Reader鈥� in 鈥淭o End,鈥� in which she confesses that she thinks her almost 99-year-old late mother would have 鈥渄isapproved of making this correspondence public or revealing private lives to others, and yet they contain a history that profoundly contained her.鈥� Yamashita鈥檚 last words 鈥� in a moment of ironic, almost petulant agency 鈥� are addressed to 鈥淒ear Editor鈥� in 鈥淎nd Finally,鈥� in which she argues, laments, and begrudgingly accepts what her editor did 鈥渢o make the book in its entirety work.鈥� In a moment of self-mocking awareness, she reminds herself, 鈥淚鈥檓 a grown-up writer. I鈥檓 breathing.鈥�

Allusive, quirky, questioning, "Letters" is a challenging text; for all its brevity, the less-than-200 pages are dense with assumptions of cultural literacy, community insight, historical background. And yes, don鈥檛 be deterred: for 鈥済entle, critical, or however鈥� readers ready for intellectual stimulation, "Letters" awaits your inquisitive participation and rewarding collaboration.

Terry Hong writes , a book blog for the .