Cha's Dicte

Exposing and Testing Boundaries of Epic and Lyric Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée has received much critical attention due to the content, the way the content is presented, along with the framework in which the content is presented. Cha uses diction and an a large variety of vocabulary to unfold an array of texts, archives, photos, and inquisition. These elements are used to explore the issues of dislocation and the disjunction of memory. It is used to support her past where her memory lacks. As a result of all the work Cha put into it, we are given a work of power, and abiding artistry. Often times it is difficult to make out what type of writing one is reading with Cha’s Dictée. As learned from class, some critics say Dictée is a rewritten …show more content…
In Dictée, there is a series of narratives which can be found in nine parts. The Nine Muses are used in identifying each of the sections Poetry, Elitere/Lyric Poetry, Thalia/Comedy, Terpsichore/Choral Dance, Polymania/Sacred Poetry. Each of the sections are independent chapters, and found in each section there is different manner in which the past in being summoned through speech. While analyzing the use of language, it is seen that there are paths open to memories which lead to the process of recollection. Each section is narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of Cha’s life. Each section is its own epic.This test gives the reader a chance to explore Cha’s new exemplification of the American epic-- one in which she broadens a basic genre which is famous for its openness, but at the same time exposes its …show more content…
Here the swallowed cries can be seen. Just from these words, the body of this outcast can be pictured in the reader's mind. These lines stand as the only instance of Hangul(Korean Alphabet) in the entire. The Korean language itself is a underground language(Ling,450). It lingered throughout the book, similar to that of the presence of a ghost. This is similar to the “cry of exile” which was never given a voice(Park, 226). In the frontispiece found on the first page of Dictée, Cha pulls in the first reference to the descent to the underworld, and as seen in the rest of the epic, she expands this idea into the background for the remaining references. According to Park, the modernist epic view implies a type of homelessness characteristic and because of this, Cha’s reinvention knows to work around this type of condition(Park 228). While considering the exile in Japan, this could be compared to Odysseus’s underworld descent and the dialogue. Cha uses the exile figure to help visualize new urgencies and necessities. This is where the epic Cha has given us begins. The voice of the diseuse takes us on that journey(Park