Cathy Song's Picture Bride as an Ethnic Autobiography

Ethnic autobiography diverges from traditional notions of American autobiographies by re-interpreting the singular 'I' in autobiographies. The speaking subject is no more a confident and firm individual, a successful representation of a prosperous American society. Rather, it shows the complexity and elaborateness of defining oneself in an ethnic context, as it requires the subject to be placed in multiple historical, cultural, economic, and ethnic discourses and circumstances. Just as ethnic autobiography resists unified evaluation of ethnic selves, it is important to note that Picture Bride possesses greater significance than as a mere family poem or a poem about various images of Asian American women. Rather than solely dealing with traditional or radical images of Asian American women, this poem collection places its subjects in multiple historical, cultural, economic, and ethnic discourses and contexts. By presenting collective yet conflicting voices of Asian American women, their conflicts regarding their ethnicity, and irreconcilable images and themes, Picture Bride illustrates the ongoing process of self-formation and representation through its speakers and narrative structures, and presents the complexity and elaborateness in defining oneself in an ethnic context. Analyzing Song's Picture Bride as an ethnic autobiography enables her work to be interpreted on a brooder perspective, allowing us to delineate a clearer map of her poems as an Asian American poetry and to appreciate its significance as well as prominence in the fields of Asian American literature.