Dictee Chapter Summary
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s book Dictee defies categorization, blending media such as poetry, historical texts, and images in order to form a combination of an autobiography and a work of art. The combination of mediums that form the book is not just a complication of Dictee--it is fundamental to the way we read and understand the work. Through the confusion inherent in approaching Cha’s writing and her use of text (for reasons as simple as the inclusion of French and ), the reader is allowed and encouraged to view the challenge and complexity as a reflection of the characters and perspectives contained within the novel. Dictee is concerned with language as a part of “being”-- speech is portrayed as a tool for affirming one’s identity. As such,
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Through the repetition and mechanical nature of language exercises, particularly dictation exercises (dictee), Cha explores the formal process of becoming fluent in a language. Dictee focuses on the link between a word and its meaning, and the stability or instability of that link. From the beginning of the book, Cha explores the arbitrary relationship between a word and its meaning, playing with the reader’s understanding and trust of the text by including false translations. On the first page of the book, Cha includes a list of Greek muses and their respective arts. In this list she assigns LYRIC POETRY to Elitere--a muse she created. While within the context of Dictee, whether the muse is “real” may be irrelevant, it is an early instance of Cha’s attempts to separate words from their meaning or assign them new power. During a section in the format of a dictation exercise, translating from French to English, Cha writes ”Void the words. Void the silence” (73). Ironically, here Cha is using a translation exercise to strip language of its meaning. This is another moment at which Cha is using text to mean something other than its traditionally assigned meaning; the translation is not merely a rote exercise but a part of the book with as much value as any other
Through the repetition and mechanical nature of language exercises, particularly dictation exercises (dictee), Cha explores the formal process of becoming fluent in a language. Dictee focuses on the link between a word and its meaning, and the stability or instability of that link. From the beginning of the book, Cha explores the arbitrary relationship between a word and its meaning, playing with the reader’s understanding and trust of the text by including false translations. On the first page of the book, Cha includes a list of Greek muses and their respective arts. In this list she assigns LYRIC POETRY to Elitere--a muse she created. While within the context of Dictee, whether the muse is “real” may be irrelevant, it is an early instance of Cha’s attempts to separate words from their meaning or assign them new power. During a section in the format of a dictation exercise, translating from French to English, Cha writes ”Void the words. Void the silence” (73). Ironically, here Cha is using a translation exercise to strip language of its meaning. This is another moment at which Cha is using text to mean something other than its traditionally assigned meaning; the translation is not merely a rote exercise but a part of the book with as much value as any other