Talk Story In The Woman Warrior

The term “talk story” originates from the Hawaiian pidgin language. This language developed throughout the 19th century when laborers from China, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Russia, and several other countries came to conduct business on Hawaiian plantations. Since the plantations consisted of many different foreigners, a common language was needed. As a result, the Pidgin Hawaiian language evolved. These new immigrants adopted Hawaiian words and phrases. In an interview with Susan Brownmiller, Maxine Hong Kingston says “talk-story” is “actually an Hawaiian pidgin phrase, borrowed street language from her adopted city” (Brownmiller 178). “Talk story” is also a style of learning used by teachers. Hawaiian classrooms are highly diverse; therefore, talk story enables the students to speak, learn, and listen to each other. According to English Language Arts and Content Area Director Shira Hillyer, “It is a celebration of children
The Woman Warrior begins with a talk story about Kingston’s aunt who died in the family well after getting pregnant and giving birth while her husband was in America. From this particular talk story, the reader is introduced to several Chinese traditions such as an “outcast table” and how marriage in Chinese is also known as “taking a daughter-in-law in.” The second chapter, “White Tigers,” begins with a talk story about a woman warrior named Fa Mu Lan. This talk story relates to the topic of heroism, a common topic used in the scops’ poems. Kingston not only writes about the Chinese culture through her and her mother’s talk stories, but also relates these talk stories to describe her Chinese-American life and the struggles she faced. In The Woman Warrior, Kingston presents the differences between the American and Chinese culture, but also expresses the importance of storytelling and talk story, which played an important role in her