In my ASTU 100 class we recently had the exciting opportunity to work in Rare Books and Special Collections here at UBC; an archive that contains “significant collections of rare books, archival materials, historic maps, photographs, broadsides and pamphlets” (rbsc.library.ubc.ca) focusing on British Columbia’s history. On our first day in the RBSC reading room we were encouraged to take a look at all of the archival material laid out in order to get a sense of what each collection was about. Though each collection I looked at was interesting and meaningful to the province’s history, the collection that I found especially intriguing was the Chung Collection.

This collection was gathered by Dr. Chung over 60 years, and includes archival material that pertains to “early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement, particularly of Chinese people in North America, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.” (chung.library.ubc.ca) Dr. Chung was able to collect over 25 000 items such as immigration papers and photographs, and then personally donated his collection to the UBC library so that “as many people as possible can have the opportunity to understand and appreciate the struggles and joys of those who have come before them.” (chung.library.ubc.ca)

The one piece of archival material that struck me the most from the Chung Collection was a red and green “royal tartan” journal that had a cameo of Queen Alexandra on the front. Among head tax documents and immigration papers, this item’s appearance was so distinguishably representative of English culture, and upon examining it’s contents, so was what was written inside. It contained pages of english handwritten letters that had been copied from correspondents between people of a high class in society. It included phrases such as, “Uncle George called last night and took us for a sleigh ride.” This line was found on a page in which the letter was written on the 20th of April 1902, and at the bottom was addressed from “your loving little girl, Melly.” The purpose of these journals were for Chinese people that had immigrated to Canada to learn english by copying letters in the journal, repeatedly. Often a letter was copied down 2, 3, sometimes 4 times.

I found the initial juxtaposition bizarre; this journal that without any context would appear to be the possession of an upper class white person, along side collections of papers outlining the head tax and immigration. Considering Chinese immigrants to Canada in the early 1900’s faced such severe prosecution and racism, reading this journal that was written by Chinese person but contained content that was so remarkable ‘white’ was thought provoking. It reminded me of the idea in Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill, of “faking it.” Opposed to some of the examples in Diamond grill where “faking it” was more of an open “performance”, these journals could be considered a form of “faking it” because of the way in which they are an example of Chinese people being assimilated and indoctrinated into “Canadian culture.” Copying down the letters served as a way to not only learn english but could also be thought of as a way for these new immigrants to learn things that the ‘white people’ did in order to fit into mainstream society. These journals could be thought to represent a need to ‘fit in’.

Fred Wah‘s “biofictional” novel, Diamond Grill captivates Wah’s memories growing up as a mixed raced Canadian, and his family’s history. The novel explores such themes as family, culture, race, and belonging, as well as how these  factors affect his sense of identity. It is the structure of the book that exemplifies his personal struggle and his families collective struggle with identity. Wah dedicated the book “to Fred, Connie and Ethal. For family.” this dedication is evident in the way he not only writes the novel but structures it. The characters receive little introduction, if any because Wah is writing the book not with the audience in mind but rather for  himself and his family. It is structured as 144 short – often one page chapters, that mix up the timeline and story, each page reflecting a different memory or thought. Through the collection of short isolated anecdotes Wah attempts to understand his father’s life, in order to come to terms with his own identity. Unlike more conventional biographies, Diamond grill mixes up separate story lines, recipes, descriptions and family histories that together form a biography representative of Wah’s life. It would seem that the disorderly nature of the “biotext” reflects Wah’s feelings of confusion, as he comes to term with his racial identity.

Wah’s novel is not only a reflection of his own life and struggles, but in the larger picture a commentary on Canadian society. Ultimately his experience of racism from other people as well as his internalized racism is a result of how society marginalizes people based on their race. Fred grew up in the fifties in small town Nelson BC, where racism and prejudice towards Chinese people was widespread. Wah, who is 1/2 Swedish, 1/4 Chinese, 1/8 Irish and 1/8 Scottish, discusses his struggle with his identity as other people tried to tell him what he was. He discusses how when filling out a form in school that asked what his racial origin was, “[he] thought well this is Canada, I’ll put down Canadian. But the teacher said no Freddy you’re Chinese, your racial origin is Chinese…” (53). Wah continues by saying how in the school yard the Chinese kids though of him as foreigner, and so he ended up playing against them since he was “white enough to play on the winning team.” (53). It is this back and forth of being told by people that he was Chinese, or being considered white that caused Wah to be unsure of his identity. He was constantly being categorized, and judged by society, which as a result lead him to not feeling accepted.

Wah further discusses this in the documentary film Between: Living in the Hyphen which was produced in 2004. This recent film exemplifies how racsim is still very affluent in Canada. The seven mix raced Canadians (including Fred Wah ) that are featured in this film express having felt a lack of belongingness in what was described by one of the individuals as “an either or world.” Both Diamond Grill and Between: Living in the Hyphen exemplify how society treats people of mixed race, marginalizing, and making someone who isn’t “pure” feel like a “resident alien, living in the hyphen.” (Wah 53)