Shedding Silence

by Janice Mirikitani

Poetry and prose explores the author's experiences growing up as an Asian-American and examines the themes of love, war, and family

Genres: Poetry

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Maggie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read only one poem, "Breaking Silence", from this book for my Asian American Literature class in my freshmen college course. This is the first book, we read in this class.

Boy, it this story break my heart. Very impactful words.

[Vasha7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Janice Mirikitani's poems frequently tell of the experiences of her parents and their family, interned during World War II, and burn with the pain of racism. She, and other women she writes about, are burdened and compressed. Nearly every poem in this collection speaks anger, even ones that commemorate happy occasions exult in the overcoming of past slights. It's not heavy-handed because the language is always inventive, finely judged, not repetitive. (Though there are some poems with subjects taken from the headlines which are generally not as successful as more personal ones -- the best of them find some personal link in the news.) Anger is joyful here because of the relief of speaking out. But also there is a whole lot of violence in these poems, both narrated and imagined; Mirikitani looks at it straight on, even incorporates it. There are lots of plant metaphors and narrations of gardening and agriculture, because these things were so vital to her mother and grandmother, and it seems she gardens herself. These poems seem pretty successful in form to me because they chose the right words, in the right order, and in balance (enough of one sentence not too much of another) -- as for the rhythms, I'd really like to hear the author read them.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to know what to say about Mirikitani's poetry--beautiful imagery that deals with some harsh issues.

I lived in Japan for a year, so I've become curious about the Japanese American experience. It's difficult for me to comprehend the racism against Japanese people in America, since while I was living in Japan, everyone around me was Japanese, so that was just normal to me. I'm white, but I was never treated with anything but kindness by the Japanese people. I guess that is why the history of the internment during WWII, brought to vivid life and feeling by Mirikitani's poems, is enough to break my heart for these lost children of the Japanese diaspora. I know we were at war, but the racism just sickens me.

Some of the feminist stuff I don't resonate with as much (such as the poem "Jealousy"--generalizations about men and women that just seem like fuel for women who want to be angry about something), but if you are interested in Japan at all, Mirikitani is an important poet to read.