again it happens. and you collapse under the weight. you are buried beneath.
a lifetime of these things. -Truong Tran, Book of the Other
Image Credit: Randy Fath
Truong Tran employs a style of short and blunt statements given in rapid succession, and I find that this method of delivery allows each statement to hit harder than if it were presented in any more formal structure. In an excerpt from Book of the Other, Tran writes “so what if you are consistently called by your last name. it is easier to pronounce. it is just a small thing. these things”. Rather than presenting his experience more conventionally, the separation between the offending treatment he receives, the rationale for it, and the perceived insignificance of it build a montage of these images selected and stitched together in succession, which forms a more coherent emotional experience.
Tran’s informalities are further expressed in his usage of space and font, where seemingly little concern is given towards formal presentation. White backgrounds, lack of capitalization, and lack of punctuation (except periods) create both a sense of brashness or irreverence and also intimacy, as if you were reading thoughts and venting written in Tran’s notes app. This perceived irreverence lends to the anger and discomfort Tran expresses as he writes of a white colleague who “assumes that english. is not [his] first language,” and how the difference in treatment he receives stacks up as “they accumulate. they stick. they cling to [his] clothing”.
Preceding the publishing of Book of the Other, a misplaced blame on Asian Americans for the Covid-19 pandemic likely contributed to Tran’s urgency in putting his experiences to writing, as he received calls from his mother who informs him “a vietnamese man died this week,” and he understands her concern for him, describing her insistence on interrupting his sleep: “my mother calls to know that im alive”. The murder of George Floyd also occurred during the pandemic, which may have inspired his focus on a similar experience had by Black Americans: “an unarmed black man running the other way. is seen as dangerous. becomes endangered” (Tran).
Image credit: Tonik
Tran likely refers to minorities in the United States when he titles his book “The Other,” drawing from his experiences where his English is assumed to be a secondary language, creating an “awkward moment” or when the different treatment he receives based on his name drives him to “change [his] name to tom” (Tran).
In “We Are Not Responsible,” Harryette Mullen describes a system which disregards minorities and emphasizes a lack of responsibility to address any issues on the basis of different cultural backgrounds. “If you cannot understand English, you will be moved out of the way” (Mullen, line 8). This simple disregard and lack of respect is reflected in Tran’s work when he writes of experiencing “someone [being] compelled. to correct [his] grammar”. Mullen also implies a theme of prejudice by law enforcement, stating “You were detained for interrogation because you fit the profile. / You are not presumed to be innocent if the police / have reason to suspect you are carrying a concealed wallet” (lines 13-15). Tran also alludes to this theme as he recalls “a person was shot and killed again. that an unarmed black man running the other way. is seen as dangerous”. Both Tran and Mullen write of a system or actors within it treating minorities unreasonably and then cite excuses that are given, statements of non-responsibility, or an erroneous perception of danger.
References:
Tran, Truong. Book of the Other. Kaya Press, 2021.
Mullen, Harryette. “We Are Not Responsible.” 2002. Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/145281/we-are-not-responsible. Accessed 24 November 2024.