the operating system, 2017
Summary: A poetry collection by Margaret Rhee, a Korean American poet. She writes about love between humans and robots in a science fictional world.
Content warning: No content warnings apply.
Hello, I am CoreaMod and this is my first post for We Have Thoughts! I will be reviewing media related to South Korea, ranging from books, (plant-based) recipes, movies, TV shows, music, etc. Since this is my first post, I’d like to share a little bit about why I chose to review Korea-related media.
I grew up in South Korea before I moved to the U.S. a dozen years ago. For the first few years here, all I wanted was to be able to fit in. And I tried hard. I thought I needed to submerge myself in the 'American' culture. So I stopped reading in Korean, stopped watching Korean shows, and never learned to cook Korean food. My goal was to assimilate, assimilate, assimilate. I felt satisfied and accomplished when I shed my accent and people started to compliment me for my accentless English. And I took it as a big compliment when people said that I pass as an American. I was relieved in my ability to blend in. I do not blame my young self for thinking so. Being the quiet Asian girl who does not speak English in high school was not easy and I needed to survive through that period. But I abandoned so much of my true self in doing so. I only realized in the past few years that I lost so much of what defined me. What I should have never let go of. What I should have carried dearly with me. I resonate so much with the following section from Matt Ortile’s book, The Groom Will Keep His Name, about his immigrant experience.
pg. 28 I tried to drain myself of my Filipinoness to fit the role of a model American minority so much that I ran on a cultural deficit. Though habits and traditions and cuisines and languages alone do not comprise an identity, they make up a big part of it. Severed as I was from my family and homeland, to deprive myself of what made me Filipino only exacerbated my feelings of separation and lack, how I felt unrooted in America and uprooted from the Philippines.
It was up to me to reframe the facets of my Filipinoness as nourishing things, to reclaim them from my internalized colonialism, this parasite that made a host of me.
I started to slowly understand that I equated being American to being white. And I am learning to unlearn the internalized white supremacy, colonialism, and imperialism. It will be a life-long journey, but I want to stay committed to it. In an effort to reclaim my identity, I have been intentionally familiarizing myself with the Korean culture through various media. So when I was invited to We Have Thoughts!, I figured Korea-related posts would be a good fit for me.
My first review is on the poetry collection Love, Robot by Margaret Rhee (published in 2017 by the operating system). Rhee introduces herself as “a poet, scholar, and new media artist” and she writes “with attention to social issues and technology.” Isn't it such an interesting intersection? This is well reflected in Love, Robot. If my fading memory is correct, I first came across her poem through Asian American Writer’s Workshop’s Instagram story. It shared a bit from the poem ‘Coca Cola’ and I still remember the pang I felt when I read it.
The law of robotics says we cannot
Injure a human being. The ten commandments
say never harm, and so I won’t say what
I want. I won’t be honest. Although
when you ask me, if I am seeing some-
one else, I will say, robota, I am
not seeing you. I know it hurts. But
code fails. Don’t bother me anymore.
I’m going to leave you uncharged.
Until you run out of battery,
and become just dead light.
Sins are never atoned between humans
Pray for forgiveness and repeat.
I marveled at how Rhee uses words like screws, circuits, motors, cords, and wires to talk about love. Heart wrenchingly beautiful love, that is. She takes objects that are conventionally considered cold, soulless, and standardized and transforms them into substances of emotion, desire, and despair. Additionally, she has intricately woven race and sexuality into her poems, as in ‘Radio Heart’.
Race is not programmed yet
So as you trace around my eyes
My lips, the round contours of my face
You say, you are so human, all human.
I not only enjoyed her unique perspective that comes from her Korean American background, but also appreciated the freedom that comes with talking about love between humans and robots. That transcendental love, embracing whoever you are, and whoever you love.
I'm grateful to have gotten to know writers who write for readers like me, like Margaret Rhee, Matt Ortile, R.O. Kwon, Alexander Chee, Cathy Park Hong, ... I'm excited to talk more about them in the coming posts.
murmur to me, it is the middle of the night.
we all deserve a song that is untranslatable
If you are interested in an untranslatable love song, this poignant collection may be for you.
(Icon by Victoruler from The Noun Project)