August 28, 2006
The Stories of Maxine Hong Kingston Interview
This new PBS Video offering is appealing on a variety of levels. It offers a portrait of Maxine Hong Kingston, author of the two nonfictional works, The Woman Warrior and China Men, and Tripmaster Monkey (her first novel). The first half-hour of the tape focuses on the autobiographical influences in Hong Kingston’s writing, such as her poet-father, her early feminist anger, and so on. Bill Moyers introduces the author, stating that her books are currently “the most widely taught on any American campus, more than any other American author.” It is on this note that Hong Kingston begins to elaborate upon one of the main themes in her writing, the portrayal of the Chinese-American experience as a facet of the total American experience. She finds that the tendency to view Chinese culture as “exotic” denies “mystery” to others, and that the issues raised in her writings transcend the specifics of her heritage and apply to many ethnic groups. Thus, the program also speaks to the richness that the many groups in the American “melting pot” have brought to this country’s culture as each has found what Hong Kingston calls their “voice” - the music of African Americans, for example - or the playful, fun-loving “monkey spirit” that the Chinese have introduced to balance Puritan seriousness. (Read the article)
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