WORDS, MEMORIES, AND STORIES: THE SEARCH FOR JAPANESE IDENTITY IN HIROMI GOTO’S CHORUS OF MUSHROOMS

Abstract

The novel Chorus of Mushrooms, written by Hiromi Goto, a Japanese-Canadian author, is a peculiar search for identity and the language necessary for expressing that identity. From experiments with words, memories, and stories with which the protagonist attempts to construct her own self, emerges the concept of the scattered, relative Japanese-Canadian identity. The text emphasizes the problem of the dissonance between the ability to speak and the ability to express oneself, and reveals the complicated web of relations between words and communication, body and identity, and truth and memories.