Multicultural American Fiction Stretching the Novel Format

The hyphenated American novel gives voice to characters living the American minority experience. Those of us who look like The Other are usually vividly aware of our differences from the mainstream. We know there are different ways of living than most mainstream white Americans could even imagine, and this knowledge lends itself easily to thinking outside the box. Thus, many multicultural Americans have experimented with the traditional narrative format of the novel.

The novel in verse, though not exactly a new format (think Homer's Odessey or Illiad), has only recently within the past decade become extremely popular among young adult writers. Perhaps because of the conciseness of poetry. Or the ease of reading shorter lines. Or perhaps because the form of poetry lends itself more easily to emotions. Here are some hyphenated American examples:

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson is about 11 year old African-American Lonnie who poignantly shares his memories of losing his family in poems, a result of a teacher's assignment.

Street Love by Walter Dean Myers is a free verse depiction of the romance between two African-American teens living in Harlem but separated by socio-economic lifestyles. 17 year old Damien has been accepted into Brown University when he falls in love with 16 year old Junice, taking care of her little sister after their mother was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Also told in free verse, Seeing Emily by Joyce Lee Wong is about a Chinese American girl's struggle to come to terms with her own identity between her private Chinese restaurant home life and her public American life in Virginia.

Other hyphenated American authors have experimented with different narrative forms.

Even newer and more popular than the novel in verse is the graphic novel (think comic books with a long narrative arc), and one of the most recently distinguished young adult graphic novels is American Born Chinese by Gene Yuan. The narrative interweaves three different stories: the legend of the Monkey King, a contemporary Chinese-American story of a teenage boy trying to fit in a predominantly white school, and a parody of a whitewashed Chinese-American boy perpetually embarassed by his over-the-top horrible Fresh Off the Boat Chinese cousin. All these stories deal with the search for identity and coming to terms with their true selves.

About a teenage African-American boy on trial for murder, Monster by Walter Dean Myers is told mostly in a screenplay format mixed with sketches and vingettes of traditional narrative scattered throughout. Not only does this fit with the character of the protagonist who aspires to be a fiimaker, but the format of the screenplay distances the reader and allows the reader to witness the prosecution like a jury member to decide if Steven really is guilty or innocent.

About a 12 year-old Korean American girl's science experiment focusing on silk worms, Project Mulbery by Linda Sue Park is especially unique in its format, where the traditional narrative is interrupted throughout with interviews between the author and the main character. This format breaks the rules of traditional novel storytelling and much like in theater when the actors directly address the audience, these author/protagonists dialogues break the fourth wall of the narrative and exposes some of the author's creative process to the reader.

Next week we will be exploring how writers experimentally cross outside their own cultures.