- Watch the documentary, First Person Plural (2000) Directed and Written by Deann Borshay Liem. (Please note: on YouTube it’s organized into 6 different parts, make certain you watch all parts) [TRT: 60 minutes] Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvKb7uEoWXY&list=PLc4mE598TMEWhiPubTeN01iBaf1_yi-Ns (Links to an external site.)
- In your initial post, describe and explain Deann Borshay’s struggle with being an adopted transnational orphan, cultural identity, assimilation/acculturation.
- Each student is required to submit 2 reply posts,( one reply post to two different students) In your reply posts, provide constructive feedback to at least two different student’s initial post.
[1] Deann Borshay’s struggle in being an adopted transnational orphan comes from the complete assimilation to American culture, which made it harder reconnect with her ethnic roots and cultural identity. When Borshay was brought into America with her adopted parents, her upbringing was nothing less of American. When she was young, she made an effort to remember her past life in Korea as much as she could while adapting to her new life, but her memories of Korea were no match for the many memories she would be making in America, so they began to fade away. Deann assimilated completely to her American life, but was depressed because she knew something was missing with her identity. No matter how hard she assimilated, she still did not look like her adopted family; she was still Korean by blood. She could not connect with her American parents the way she needed to in order to mourn for what she lost in Korea; she felt no connection with her Korean background. Because she could not retain her Korean culture into adulthood, reconnecting with her birth family and Korean roots was difficult because of the language barrier and having to accept that she now has two mothers. When she visited Korea, she was out of touch with her culture that she felt like a visitor instead of a family member there, despite the sense of familiarity and community with being around her kind.
[2]As a foreigner, she had identity issues which means that she probably felt like she didn’t belong in her life, including relationships with her American sisters, American parents, her classmates, and Korean family. Growing up in America she always had the feeling of being out of place, since her appearance was always strikingly different from everyone else, so much so that she used surgery to alter her appearance. Feeling like an outcast despite living with her American family the majority of her life she had wondered if they really saw her as one of their own. She was trying to figure out if she was Korean, or American, and dealing with the feeling of being lost from her “real” family. In her younger days, she believed that she was supposed to have only one mother, and she had a hard time choosing one or the other, unable to seek advice since no one she knew understood her problems. She believed that having her two families meet was her way of trying to answer those questions. After visiting Korea with her American parents she realized that both mothers always wanted the best for her and concluded that both were people she would always care about. In conclusion, Deann Borshay was able to validate her bond with her American mother as a real mother while also keeping ties with her biological mother.
[3]Having grown up as a transnational orphan, Deann Borshay has been through so many struggles towards her identity and assimilating / acculturating with the American society. When she first arrived in the US, language and physical appearance are the 2 major factors that she felt indifferent with her American family and society. She was trying so hard to learn English and to assimilate to the American culture but she felt like part of herself belonged to the other side of the world. Once she was able to speak English well enough, she told her American parents the true story behind her. Later on, she decided to fly to South Korea with her American parents to meet with her Korean family so that both the American and South Korean family could be presented in the same room and would live together in herself. After the trip, she realized that she couldn’t connect to the Korean family as she thought because she’s no longer able to speak the language and she found herself closer to her American parents.
In “Cultural Window”, a podcast interview by Hans Hermann, Dr. Joanna Lee Williams explains that adolescence is a critical time for teenagers to start thinking about which ethnic and racial group they belongs to and would develop the question of “Who am I”. During this time, the onset of puberty brings important changes to the brain and so they may start paying more attention to messages regrading of what’s like to be an Asian- American, White American, African American or so. One would then start to think about their own identity when interacting with other people in a social dynamic environment. I think that explains the struggles Deann has been through when she grew up and then decided to go back to South Korea to meet her family. However, over the years, she has acculturated to the American way of life as she speaks English fluently and she has been living in the US much longer than in South Korea. She found that her Childhood fantasy of living with her Korea family started to fade away. At the end, she knew that she’s more like a visitor to the Korean family and the only way for them to get closer is to accept that her Korean mom was not her mom for the last 30 years and her American mom has become her real mother.
[4] Deann Borshay greatly struggled with finding her identity and the process of getting there was difficult. Prior to arriving in America, the orphanage director had told Deann to not tell her adoptive family about who she really was until she was ready to take care of herself. As she lived with her adoptive family, her memories of Korea were almost forgotten. The recurring dreams allowed for Deann Borshay to set out and find the truth about her identity and her family. Cha Jung Hee was just an identity that did not belong to her. Deann Borshay’s real Korean name was Kang Ok Jin and she discovered this when her biological brother had reached out to her. When Deann Borshay travelled to Korea, her breath was taken away by her experience being surrounded with other people who were culturally and physically alike. Deann discovered that she could see parts of her in her biological family. This is an example of cultural identity because Deann felt that she belonged in this group even though she has not grown up with them. However, the language barrier between her and her biological family was difficult to manage. Deann felt that she lost that part of her identity because she was away from it for so long. This is an example of assimilation because although she was born in Korea, traveling there was a strange sense of familiarity and tension at the same time. Deann talked about how she struggled to talk with her adoptive family about her Korean family because she did not want to seem disloyal and alienated. Like the speakers from the podcast has stated, adolescents become more tuned to social information and this means that they are more aware of stereotypical messages and its impact on their identity. Similarly, Deann Borshay’s persistent dreams and vision of her ghostly father allowed for her to become more aware about her Korean identity.
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