ABSTRACT
Regarding his journey as a diaspora poet, Arthur Sze tells us that his “poetry is exemplified by the character of xuan” in Chinese, which is derived from dyeing. “The character itself depicts silk dipped below ground level into an indigo vat; the silk hangs from a pole into the dye bath.” What Sze tries to show is the process of transformation implicated in the idea of xuan: “When the silk is pulled up into the air, it is at first a greenish color. The yarn begins to turn blue because chemicals in the dye oxidize when they come in contact with oxygen in the air” (1999, 74). The multilayered colors of xuan, as it were, inspire Sze to create “poems that are not one-dimensional; they are multidimensional and challenge the reader to stretch and grow” (1999, 74). Let us quote a few lines from his poem “The Silk Road”:
Sze invites readers to journey with him-not exactly along the historical “silk road” but rather along the variable paths of his imagination to establish new connections among the multiple layers of human existence. In addition, the journey includes numerous detours through other places, real or imagined. To a certain extent, Sze’s poetry represents a nonlinear/multilinear or nonsequential/multisequential web in which the nuclear tests on Bikini Island can be connected with the “apricots dropping from branches” in China. “My poems,” as Sze tells us, “ask a reader to read and reread, to experience the layering of our existence, and to embark on a transformational process. I believe there are many readers willing to make this journey” (1999, 74). It is a transformational journey that asserts multiple connections among different cultures. The multidimensional space and temporality inscribed in Sze’s poetry disrupt the apparent closure of nationality and allude to transnational communities where the local and the global encounter as contiguous neighbors. “Like it or not,” in Sze’s opinion, “we live in a complex world. (I take the word complex to be derived from plex, “to braid,” and com, meaning ‘with’ or ‘together.’) We live a world in which the interactions of different cultures have the possibility of each enriching the other; let us not deny ourselves this opportunity” (1999, 76). As Sze shows in his poem “Archipelago,” what would seem to be unconnected events, activities and images in remote areas might be linked or linkable within a web of global signification. The speaker’s visit to a Ryoanji temple in Kyoto, for instance, is somehow connected across geographical and temporal distance with a ceremony that takes place in a pueblo in New Mexico:
The juxtaposition of disparate occurrences and incidents communicates Sze’s view of the world as a complex web of interconnected multiplicity. To this extent, Sze’s poetry reflects the global consciousness of a diaspora poet, for whom the “ongoing dialogue” across the borders and limits of cultures, languages and nations “is essential for insight.” In his poetry, Sze journeys beyond the patrimonial boundaries of singular cultures. “To say a multicultural writer/artist is totally and exclusively answerable to his or her ethnic community, must be the spokesperson of that community,” in Sze’s opinion, “can lead to terribly reductive consequences” (1999, 75).
