Points of View
Read what those involved with current issues across Canada have to say about cultural diversity and multiculturalism.
British Columbia
Roy Miki
Roy Miki is a professor in the English Department at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice. (Raincoast 2004). His latest publication is a book of poems, There (New Star 2006).
Asian Canadians On View
Roy Miki, professor in the English Department at Simon Fraser University, writes about the need to develop critical approaches for studying the representation of Asian Canadian histories and identity formations.
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Form and Narration
In studying these two films together, we need to keep in mind that representations—in films, books and news reports—are always double-edged: they not only reflect what we assume to be real people and real events, but they do so by framing them in ways that direct the viewer’s understanding. The films may offer “sympathetic” views, but both are constructed by filmmakers who are outsiders to the groups described2. As such, both films perform a pedagogical function in that they provide a framework for viewers, primarily outsiders to the groups, to look into the inner dynamics of Japanese Canadians and Chinese Canadians. The films are thereby limited by the kind of representations created by the filmmakers. For instance, Enemy Alien uses a voiceover technique through which a narrator, supposedly a mainstream Canadian, tells the film’s story to other Canadians, supposedly non-Japanese. Although his voice is gentle and sensitive towards the plight of the Japanese Canadians interned, those interned do not get to speak. Because of this narrative form, Japanese Canadians never become individuals with unique and varying experiences but remain identified with a group.
The Third Heaven, in contrast, adopts the interview mode to convey the story of the Lam family. Parents Michael and Vivian, and children Rhoda and Clayton, are featured through personal comments made in English and Cantonese, with translations provided3. This use of translation works well with the transnational qualities of the Lam family’s life, specifically their multiple connections to China (the “first heaven), Hong Kong (the “second heaven”) and Canada (the “third heaven”). The 1997 return of Hong Kong to China forces the family to reconsider the power of the past and to evaluate their sense of being Canadian. In one compelling moment, Michael and Vivian travel to Michael’s ancestral village in China. At first nostalgic about their cultural roots, they are soon shocked to discover the harsh economic and social conditions of the village. Michael’s relatives pressure him to use his influence to get them jobs in Hong Kong or Canada. Canada, Vivian concludes, is “heaven” when compared to the China of Michael’s ancestral village.
The Limits of Representation
Even though the Lams speak personally, their story is still framed through the larger narrative of “Chinese Canadian” identity, and here the film gives priority to a privileged class of transnational entrepreneurs with the economic resources to move freely between Hong Kong, China and Canada. Since culture, rather than national loyalty, is emphasized, the Lams are depicted as free to choose Canada, unlike the Japanese Canadians whose citizenship rights were abrogated and who had to prove themselves worthy of citizenship. This view of the Lams may explain the absence of references to the earlier history of racism against Chinese Canadians and other Asian Canadians. Despite this lack in the film, the lingering effects of this history surface in two resonant scenes: in Rhoda’s classroom where her classmates talk about new “Chinese” immigrants and in the conversation of four francophone Canadians on recent “Chinese” immigrants. In both instances, the personal experience of the Lams is reframed through the perspective of mainstream Canadian society, a perspective in which Chinese Canadians are still perceived as “strangers” or “others” whose presence is socially disruptive. One of the francophone women talks about the “arrogance” of wealthy Chinese Canadians; another talks about the dangers of “their” work ethic, and she includes the “Japanese” as well.
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1 Both “Asian” and “Asian Canadian” are abstract terms that have been used in Canada to identify people from a variety of countries, and in many cases countries that have had bitter historical relationships with each other, such as China and Japan. “Asian” has also had negative connotations in associated terms such as “Asiatic” and “Oriental.” It can even provoke negative reactions in groups that have been identified as “Asian Canadian,” especially for new immigrants who insist on maintaining direct ties with their country of origin. Nonetheless, “Asian Canadian” acknowledges the Canadian contexts that have shaped the boundaries of Canadians with Asian backgrounds. These contexts are constantly shifting in relation to the changing conditions of both the Canadian nation and the global processes in which it currently functions.
2. To study the differences between outsider and insider representations, we could compare these two films to those made by filmmakers who identify themselves as speaking out of specific Asian Canadian communities. Alongside Enemy Alien, then, we could view The Displaced View (1988) by Midi Onodera and Obaachan’s Garden by Linda Ohama (NFB, 2001). Alongside The Third Heaven we could view Moving the Mountain: An Untold Chinese Journey by William Dere (Productions Multi-Monde, 1993) and Letters from Home by Colleen Leung (NFB, 2002).
3. Since The Third Heaven was initially produced in French, the translation process is complex for this film and deserves more attention than I can give it here. Although I am aware that responses to the film in French may differ in significant ways, I have based my commentary on the English version.
