Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity

by David Mura

In Turning Japanese , poet David Mura chronicled a year in Japan in which his sense of identity as a Japanese American was transformed. In Where the Body Meets Memory , Mura focuses on his experience growing up Japanese American in a country which interned both his parents during World War II, simply because of their race. Interweaving his own experience with that of his family and of other sansei-third generation Japanese Americans-Mura reveals how being a "model minority" has resulted in a loss of heritage and wholeness for generations of Japanese Americans.

In vivid and searingly honest prose, Mura goes on to suggest how the shame of internment affected his sense of sexuality, leading him to face troubling questions about desire and an interracial marriage, compulsive adultery, and an addiction to pornography which equates beauty with whiteness. Using his own experience as a measure of racial and sexual grief, Mura illustrates how the connections between race and desire are rarely discussed, how certain taboos continue to haunt this country's understanding of itself. Ultimately, Mura faces the most difficult legacy of raising children in a world which refuses to recognize and honor its racial diversity.

Intimate and lyrically stunning, Where the Body Meets Memory is a personal journey out of the self and into America's racial and sexual psyche.

Genres: Memoir, Race, Asian American, Sexuality, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Mura (born 1952) is a Japanese American author, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist. He has published two memoirs, Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei, which won the Josephine Miles Book Award from the Oakland PEN and was listed in the New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity (1995). His most recent book of poetry is The Last Incantation (2014); his other poetry books include After We Lost Our Way, which won the National Poetry Contest, The Colors of Desire (winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award), and Angels for the Burning. His novel is Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire (Coffee House Press, 2008). His writings explore the themes of race, identity and history. His blog is blog.davidmura.com.

David Mura was born in 1952 and grew up in Chicago, the oldest of four children. He is a third generation Japanese American son of parents interned during World War II. Mura earned his B.A. from Grinnell College and his M.F.A. in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has taught at the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, The Loft Literary Center, and the University of Oregon. He currently resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife Susan Sencer and their three children; Samantha, Nikko and Tomo.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best memoirs are brave in the sense that I think the memoirist must be willing to convey as openly as possible certain "truths" about his or her life. David Mura's odyssey is detailed her through his strained connections to his sexuality, which revolve so much about his desire to reclaim a certain lost virile masculinity that is no doubt tied to not only his racial background, but the experience of his parents, who were both interned. I found the memoir willing to jump into the "muck" of theorizing desire in all of its peculiar and contradictory forms.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very interesting, and it got me thinking about things I never considered before. His writing is honest and raw, which makes it an easy read. I really learned a lot, and I really enjoyed his sense of voice. Definitely a good read!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Mura ist ein amerikanischer Schriftsteller, Kritiker und Performancekünstler. Seine Großeltern kamen Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts aus Japan in die USA, seine Eltern wurden während des 2. Weltkriegs interniert. Viele seiner Werke beschäftigen sich mit der Suche nach seiner Identität und dem Leben zwischen den Kulturen.


Im Teil seiner Biografie "Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei "erzählt David Mura von einem Jahr, in dem er als Amerikaner in Japan lebte. "Where the body meets the memory" erzählt von seinen Erfahrungen als Japaner in den USA.


David ist ein Sansei, was bedeutet, dass er ein Japaner der dritten Generation in den USA ist. Die meisten Amerikaner sehen in ihm immer noch einen Japaner, auch wenn er die amerikanische Staatsbürgerschaft hat. Vorurteile und versteckter oder offener Rassismus begegnen ihm und seiner Frau täglich. Wenn Susan mit den gemeinsamen Kindern unterwegs ist, wird sie oft gefragt, ob sie sie adoptiert hat, weil die Kinder ihrem Vater mehr ähnlichsehen als ihr.



Davids Eltern dagegen sind der Ansicht, dass ihr Sohn kein Verständnis mehr hat für die Werte und Traditionen des Landes, aus dem die Familie stammt. Dabei sind sie es selbst, die David den Zugang zum Land seiner Großeltern verwehren. Sie reden nur wenig über ihre Vergangenheit und so hat ihr Sohn oft wenig Verständnis für ihr Denken und Handeln. Das belastet ihn und es dauert lange, bis er es schafft, mit seinen Eltern abzuschließen. Damit meine ich nicht, dass er den Kontakt abbricht. Er macht sich weniger Gedanken darüber, wie sich seine Eltern ihm gegenüber verhalten und ist so entspannter im Umgang mit ihnen. Es ist ein langer Prozess, über den er nur in Fragmenten spricht.



Während David zwischen den unterschiedlichen Kulturen oft zerrissen wirkt, will er für seine Kinder genau das Gegenteil. Für ihn ist es ein Geschenk, dass sie zwei Kulturen in sich vereinen und so das Beste aus Beiden haben. Gleichzeitig ist er sich aber auch dessen bewusst, dass ihnen als gemischtrassigen Kinder immer auch Vorurteile gegenüber stehen werden.



David Mura spricht in seinem Buch über vieles: die Geschichte seiner Eltern spricht ein dunkles Kapitel der amerikanischen Geschichte an, auch seine eigene ist nicht frei von Rassismus. Für seine Kinder erhofft er sich ein Leben, in dem diese Dinge keine Rolle mehr spielen, ist sich aber auch dessen bewusst, dass der Weg dorthin schwierig und lang ist. Gleichzeitig spricht er auch sehr offen über sexuelle Erfahrungen, wobei ich mir nicht immer sicher bin, dass er alle Beteiligten, die er erwähnt, auch gefragt hat ob ihnen diese Zurschaustellung recht ist.


Auch wenn ich vieles an seiner Geschichte interessant fand, habe ich zum Autor keinen Zugang bekommen. Ich hatte den Eindruck, als ob er einen Teil von sich zurückhalten würde. Vielleicht finde ich den im anderen Teil seiner Biografie.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mura’s memoir paints a painfully beautiful “coming of age” story that weaves his history into his families history. It’s a story I find deeply resonant as a Yonsei reader and also found repulsive, but maybe because Mura names things that are so often unnamed.

[Ian Martyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as I enjoyed Turning Japanese, I think that Where the Body Meets Memory does an even better job of outlining the Japanese American (hereafter JA) experience in the USA. I'm actually surprised that this book doesn't get mentioned as often. As someone who is half-JA, I think that reading about others' perspectives on the JA experience and upbringing is very interesting. Mura delves much deeper into his analysis of self here, explaining how his relationship with (and later marriage to) a Caucasian woman is informed by his experience growing up with multiple identities. He also provides insight into his relationship with his parents, something that is touched on but not fully explained in Turning Japanese, and his discussion here really helped to answer a lot of the questions I had about that relationship. He is of the same generation as my mother (sansei), and it is also interesting to see parallels and differences there. Anyway, I'd highly recommend reading this to anyone, JA or not, as it portrays an important picture of American life.

[sdw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity - the title captures this montage of memories, histories, and critical race analysis well. The book moves between Mura's attempts to imagine his parents' and grandparents' experiences with internment and his process of understanding and analyzing his sexuality, including an open relationship forged at Grinell in the midst of the counter-culture, and the way that race (particularly the way race is written on the body and into desire) shaped all of this.

It is a book that exquisitely brings theory to the level of biography, memory, and body.

[Jordi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong; this book is beautifully written. The author tells the story of his heritage and his family history that lead him towards being, or not being, his heritage in a very beautiful manner. I just couldn't get myself to enjoy a biography, of sorts, at all. I like to learn of people's different experiences and how race affects other factors like sexuality and identity, but I don't think it is that interesting to read, and for 300 pages... I really couldn't get myself to finish the book, and reading time didn't seem like fun at all. I think i will stick to my magical realism for a while. A biography book has to be REALLY good to redeem its kind for me.

[Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is squeamishly honest, incisive, and original in its examination of male heterosexuality and the impact of racism and particularly Japanese-American reactions to the internment camps and social mobility. Not only is this book instructive - good for use in academic settings - but it's also entertaining, interesting, and well-written.

[meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I don't remember enough to comment too extensively...except that somehow Mura was able to relate an evening of masturbating while driving drunk on his way to a strip club, and somehow make it...interesting, aside from the shock value. Also, I met Mr. Mura, and he was quite nice.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

i didn't like this book that much. i wasn't too into the cry-me-a-river feel to the whole book about a sansei who had a bunch of identity issues and only has relationships with white women.

[Ruth]

Lots of navel-gazing.

[Donnelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

sexual addiction . . . a topic not freely discussed ... here, Mura brings it to the light . . . with truth and passion . . . a powerful read.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brave openness that Is rare.

[Serena]

textbook

[Selena]

This was much more readable than Turning Japanese and relatable.