Biotext – a form of writing in which the writer discovers him/herself. Fred Wah created a biotext of the Diamond Grill by inserting recipes, historical documents, poetry, and memories from his past. Through overlapping stories, he retold his own version of his family’s history. Indeed, not only is biofiction innovative and mobile, but also opposes the generic norms of novels and autobiographies. Wah states that he used this writing form to prevent Diamond Grill from being “hijacked by ready-made generic expectations…[of] life writing” (Afterword, 184). Besides challenging genre norms, Wah also challenged the rules of language through his ungrammatical, run-off sentences. His biotext’s context and structure definitely resisted predictable forms of narration.

Wah’s unique writing style also emphasizes the Diamond Grill’s main theme of hybridity and what it’s like to “live on the hyphen”:

“That hyphen is a real problem for multiculturalism; it’s usually a sign of impurity…and it’s frequently erased as a reminder that the parts…are not equal to the whole” (Afterword, 178).

To describe his experiences living on the hyphen, Wah incorporates metaphors and anecdotes (short stories about real incidents or people) throughout the book. It begins and ends with descriptions of the restaurant’s doors, which are metaphors for the hyphen separating nationalities. On page one Wah describes how he would kick the kitchen’s large swinging doors with a loud “whap!”. This door separates the kitchen from the restaurant’s dining area, and also resembles a racial divide between the Chinese cooks and the Canadian customers. Indeed, it seems to separate Wah’s Chinese identity (the kitchen) from his Canadian one (the dining room). However, the door can also be a connection. Wah’s love for noisily passing through it portrays how his physical appearance enables him to cross confidently across the divide to the other side. On the other hand, his father’s discretion when passing through the doors depicts how he has to be cautious when crossing to the Western world, due to his purely Chinese identity.

Wah further describes his struggles with living on the hyphen through the anecdote of King’s restaurant. Lawrence King, Shu’s son, was a pure Chinese boy who worked at the Grill with Wah. Wah’s experience visiting King’s restaurant highlights his difference with pure Chinese people, such as his physical Western appearance and inability to speak Chinese. Indeed, Wah describes how his “capability of camouflage” in Canada’s white world allowed him to be “not the target but the gun” (138). This anecdote not only highlights the differences between mixed and pure races, but also how those of mixed races have to deal with negotiating the hyphen.

By incorporating various genres into it (recipes, poetry, etc), the Diamond Grill has become a genre unto itself. Through this biotext, Wah has rebelled against typical narrative techniques to tell his life story in his own way. Nevertheless, he highlights the struggles of living in the hyphen, a hybrid nationality where the parts are just as important as the whole.