To conclude our close reading of Joy Kogawa’s Obasan, my ASTU class took a mini field trip to explore the Kogawa fonds in UBC’s Library of Rare Books and Special Collections. The Kogawa fond is one of many detailed archives in the UBC collections, containing letters, drafts, reviews, comments, newspaper headings etc., that are relevant to her books. We only took a look at a fraction of the 150 boxes of archives UBC has obtained, but that small glimpse was very revealing.
I found the file organization, or lack thereof, to be interesting. Our guide explained that the documents were kept in basically the same order as they were when first donated, and therefore, were not organized into categories. The idea being, that by removing any document from its original placement would essentially be removing a stepping-stone from the process of Kogawa’s creative journey. This is something I had never considered, and kept in mind when proceeding to view the archives.
When sifting through the files, it felt as though I had an insider look on Joy Kogawa’s creative process. For instance, I found a poem that was quickly jotted down in pencil, but oddly, it was on the flip side of an article about common opiate drugs! Although it seemed a little out of place, it shows how inspiration must have just washed over her, and she reached for the first piece of paper available to scribble out her thinking. It made me think about how some of the best sentences in literature may have been the product of a similar “creative burst.”
The creative process behind writing literature, much like the process of remembering, can be triggered unpredictably. With that in mind, I think it’s fascinating to consider all of the connections between the individual documents we analyzed, and the final product of Obasan. Perhaps even the most obscure photo or letter played a role in shaping this nationally prized novel.
