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Readings from the Fringes

12
Poem

The Body Politic

Hiromi Goto

INTRO
Hiromi Goto is a Japanese-Canadian poet.
In the poem ‘The Body Politic’, she depicts the struggle of a racially discriminated
immigrant in Canada. She presents her own experience of the identity crisis she has to face as
an immigrant. She speaks about the social construction and conditioning of the normative
body. She also tells us how the people who do not fit into the category are branded as the
“other.”

ESSAY

1. What are the stereotypes assigned to the poet as an immigrant from Japan?

OR

How does Hiromi Goto portray the stereotypes associated with the physical features of a
racist subject in the poem "The Body Politic"?

Hiromi Goto is a Japanese-Canadian poet. In the poem ‘The Body Politic’, she
portrays the stereotypes associated with the physical features of a racist subject. It also
describes the struggle of a racially discriminated immigrant in Canada.
As her parents are Japanese, Goto has all features of the Japanese people such as their
colour and their slanting eyes. The white people speak about her colour in ways she finds
intolerable. They want to dress her up in kimonos and garter belts. They should hear about
Zen and Buddhism. They also want to enjoy tiny slices of raw fish and finish off with exotic
oriental sex. Then they request her to pen a haiku for them. She is fed up with all these
unnecessary comments and questions.
Goto also highlights how the politics of normalcy and otherness is shaped around the
body. Sometimes friends ask her if she is coloured. To the whites, white is not a colour. That

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is why they call all others as coloured people. The whites find fault with everything that is not
white: about the colour, body shape, the eyes and hair of the person, dress, language, gait,
food and manners. Anybody that is not white is “the other" to them. And the other is always
discriminated against, criticised and condemned as inferior to the white.
In the poem, Goto talks about the social construction and conditioning of the
normative body. She also highlights how people who do not fit into the category branded as
the other.

SHORT ANSWER
1. What is "That which you carry with you all times and / cannot be removed like a
costume or eaten like a five-course dinner"?
It is one's own identity and racial characteristics such as colour, appearance and other
features that you always carry with you.

2. Why does she say my vision is oblique?

Being a Japanese, Hiromi Goto has slanted eyes and she sees things with them; so,
she says that her vision is oblique.

3. Who is a coloured person?

A coloured person is one who is wholly or partly of non-white descent such as Asian
or African. It is an offensive term now.

4. What is 'Ke-mo-nees"?
It is a mispronunciation of kimono, a long loose traditional Japanese robe with wide
sleeves, tied with a sash.

PARAGRAPH

1. "I dress with culture / every single morning." Explain.

As Hiromi Goto’s parents are Japanese, she has all features of the Japanese people
such as their colour and their slanting eyes. She tells us how the people who do not fit into the
category are branded as the “other.” She says she can't change her features and her culture.
They are part of her and they go with her wherever she goes at all times. She dresses with
culture every morning, and eats her culture for breakfast. She bags it for lunch and eats it for
dinner. Then she bathes in it. Culture is her sleeping partner at night.

2. What are the questions people pose to the poet as an immigrant from Japan?
Hiromi Goto is a Japanese-Canadian poet. Being an immigrant from Japan, the whites
ask her so many questions. The white people speak about her colour in ways she finds

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intolerable. They want to dress her up in kimonos and garter belts. They are eager to hear
about Zen and Buddhism, and enjoy tiny slices of raw fish with exotic oriental sex. They also
want to know about hara-kiri, which is a ritual suicide to avoid dishonour Then they request
her to pen a haiku for them. She is fed up with all these unnecessary comments and questions.

3. "It's only that I want someone to know me by my name." Explain.

As Hiromi Goto’s parents are Japanese, she has all features of the Japanese people
such as their colour and their slanting eyes. In Canada, people like her are branded 'the other'.
The white people speak about her colour in ways she finds intolerable. They want to dress her
up in kimonos and garter belts. They should hear about Zen and Buddhism, and enjoy tiny
slices of raw fish with exotic oriental sex. Then they request her to pen a haiku for them. She
is fed up with all these unnecessary comments and questions. She says she wants someone to
know her by her name.

4. "People want to dress me up in/ke-mo-nees and garter belts/ They want to hear about Zen
and Buddhism and ritual/Hairy Carrie." Explain.
As Hiromi Goto’s parents are Japanese, she has all features of the Japanese people
such as their colour and their slanting eyes. The white people speak about her colour in ways
she finds intolerable. They want to dress her up in kimonos and garter belts. They should hear
about Zen meditation and Buddhism. They also want to know about hara-kiri, which is a
ritual suicide to avoid dishonour. They would like to enjoy tiny slices of raw fish. Then they
request her to pen a haiku for them. She is fed up with all these unnecessary comments and
questions.

Prepared by:
Prof. MURUKAN BABU C.R.
(formerly) Associate Professor of English
Panampilly Memorial Govt. College
Chalakudy

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