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A review by stephxsu
Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner
sad
slow-paced
3.5
A bit of an uneven poetry collection, but ultimately still a rewarding experience that will be many readers' (including my own) introduction to Marshallese writing and interests.
IEP JALTOK roughly follows the chronology of Jetnil-Kijiner's life, first with some rather confusing poems featuring Marshallese folklore. There follows a few poems reflecting on her childhood on the islands. The most resonant one here, for me, was one in which Jetnil-Kijiner talks about growing up loving Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and wanting to be her, then getting older and being dismayed at the use of blackface and the treatment of natives. I found this poem so powerful because it succinctly encapsulates the issue that problematic lack of representation has on many POC readers' childhoods: we, having lacked books featuring characters that looked and lived like us, turned as so many do to iconic white characters, thus perpetuating and imbibing oppressive beliefs about POC.
The collection then moves to the years that Jetnil-Kijiner spent growing up in Hawaii and California, living away from the Marshall Islands because of, I presume, economic reasons, in what was for me the most powerful part of the collection. Jetnil-Kijiner writes about the microaggressions she experienced as a Micronesian living in Hawaii; about gut-wrenching scenes of displacement, longing, and disconnect set in airports or hospitals.
In the final part, Jetnil-Kijiner moves back to the islands, gets married, raises her daughter. Themes about climate change, living with the aftereffects of the atomic bomb trials conducted nearby, loss of culture are most prevalent here.
The writing style is straightforward--if read aloud, one might not be able to distinguish it from prose. It's not the most impressive or affecting poetry collection I've ever read, but I was grateful for the opportunity to get a glimpse into Marshallese identity and concerns from a local author-activist.
IEP JALTOK roughly follows the chronology of Jetnil-Kijiner's life, first with some rather confusing poems featuring Marshallese folklore. There follows a few poems reflecting on her childhood on the islands. The most resonant one here, for me, was one in which Jetnil-Kijiner talks about growing up loving Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and wanting to be her, then getting older and being dismayed at the use of blackface and the treatment of natives. I found this poem so powerful because it succinctly encapsulates the issue that problematic lack of representation has on many POC readers' childhoods: we, having lacked books featuring characters that looked and lived like us, turned as so many do to iconic white characters, thus perpetuating and imbibing oppressive beliefs about POC.
The collection then moves to the years that Jetnil-Kijiner spent growing up in Hawaii and California, living away from the Marshall Islands because of, I presume, economic reasons, in what was for me the most powerful part of the collection. Jetnil-Kijiner writes about the microaggressions she experienced as a Micronesian living in Hawaii; about gut-wrenching scenes of displacement, longing, and disconnect set in airports or hospitals.
In the final part, Jetnil-Kijiner moves back to the islands, gets married, raises her daughter. Themes about climate change, living with the aftereffects of the atomic bomb trials conducted nearby, loss of culture are most prevalent here.
The writing style is straightforward--if read aloud, one might not be able to distinguish it from prose. It's not the most impressive or affecting poetry collection I've ever read, but I was grateful for the opportunity to get a glimpse into Marshallese identity and concerns from a local author-activist.