I’ve kind of known this all along. But there’s a lot of tedious work you have to do when you put together an essay or a chapter. I’m working on my second chapter now on Kingston and Viramontes. I’m reading the bilingual child in each text in the context of the flourishing of child psychology in the postwar era. Erik Erikson’s Chilhood and Society might be one book I look closely at in terms of how cultural differences were viewed and understood in relation to human development. I have various strands of ideas and bits and pieces of interesting information and passages, but I’m not sure how to piece everything together as of now.
One of the most tedious work, I’m finding out is what we usually call “literature review” where we go through all the existing scholarship on the topic of the text. When it comes to an author like Kingston and a book like The Woman Warrior, there’s a lot to go through. I do come across interesting and pertinent criticism and analyses, but then there’s a lot that’s not immediately relevant. I’m learning to be more patient in doing research. It helps that I’m very interested in the topic and love the writers and the texts I work on.
