The Diamond Grill by Fred Wah is a biography about his father, but it is also a biotext – “a form of writing in which the writer discovers him/herself” (What Does Being a Hyphenated Canadian Really Mean?). In Wah’s writing, stories of culture, history, traditions and politics can be found. As he discusses his personal experiences and those of his family members and friends.
Fred Wah is a Chinese – Canadian, who expresses his life through the phrase: “living on a hyphen.” The hyphen present between the two ethnicities represents a barrier, which he thoroughly discusses in the Diamond Grill. Hyphenated living to many people of multiethnic backgrounds often provides a feeling of an alienation in their identity, because they feel it is difficult to associate with either one or the other. Bianca Pang from the Huffington post reveals her own discomfort of hyphenated living as “a disconnect between the two selves: our ethnicity and where we are born, whether you are Chinese-Canadian, Indian-Canadian, Italian-Canadian, African-Canadian, etc.” Explaining that when she was faced with Chinese cultures and customs she often had difficulty communicating between her family and did not often understand the culture.
Wah himself argues that he struggled with his own identity for a long period, because where he wanted to be Chinese he was too Canadian, and when he wanted to be Canadian, he was too Chinese for society. Wah found that people always seemed to point out the hyphen. In the Diamond Grill, he revealed a constant struggle between his identity, where he felt that he could be the “gun” and not the “target” in Canada, as his physical appearance allowed him to pass as fully Canadian.
Vivian Fel who is a Hispanic – American, explained similar difficulties. She explained “that there are a whole lot of us out there trying to figure out the in between” (Fel). The “in between” in all three scenarios, the individuals try to find a compromise between their ethnicities. And as they search for that compromise they hope to find their own place in society. Therefore, trying to find an “in between” has allowed these individuals to find their place and appreciate their cultural diversity.
Works Cited
Pang, Bianca. “What Does Being a Hyphenated Canadian Really Mean?” The Huffington Post Canda , 18 Oct. 2015, www.huffingtonpost.ca/bianca-pang/hyphenated-canadian_b_8305926.html. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017.
Rao, Vidya. “Living on a Hyphen.” TODAY.com, TODAY, 16 June 2009, www.today.com/allday/living-hyphen-1C9384535. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017.
“What Does Being a Hyphenated Canadian Really Mean?” UBC Blogs, UBC, 31 Jan. 2014, blogs.ubc.ca/catslounge/?p=6. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017.
