History in Oblivion

The new editions of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée and Exilée and Temps Morts from UC Press provide an opportunity for reflection on the texts’ histories. First published in 1982, just before Cha’s tragic murder, Dictée languished in obscurity until being rediscovered by Asian American critics in the 1990s. In the last few years, Dictée has gained increasing mainstream recognition, but that recognition has often been accompanied by criticism of academic scholars, who, despite their efforts in championing Cha’s work, are now viewed as gatekeepers who have avoided grappling with the facts of Cha’s life and death. Evidence that Cha’s life and work can be brought together emerges from the work of poets influenced by her, including Myung Mi Kim and Divya Victor, while the work collected in Exilée usefully places Cha’s writing in the larger context of her work as an artist. The best scholarly readings of Cha’s work, far from denying Cha’s embodiment, close the gap between word and body, following Cha’s own call to explore history “to the very flesh and bone, to the core.”[I]t is undoubtedly gratifying to see this new discovery of Cha by mainstream readers. But it’s a shame that literary scholars, who for 30 years have been her primary champions . . . are now being portrayed as gatekeepers.