Hi.... I also agree that formalism approach is applicable to make reading more focus because this approach suggests us to focus on the work itself without paying attention much to external considerations such as morality, history etc. We pay particular attention to literary devices used in the work and to the patterns these devices establish.
we can begin the analysis from the imageries as the chief element of poetry. "Monsoon History" by Shirley Lim is rich with imageries. They make use of such devices as simile ("...like fat white slugs furled.., ...like sleepers rocked in the pantun), metaphor (her snake hair, the silver mesh around her waist), symbol, etc. Those all help us understanding the situation of monsoon at the time and in the past as well.
We can also analyze defamiliarization in it. At the beginning we familiarize with the wetness (the weather) then suddenly the poet moves to animals as the imageries of the weather, next he comes back to the weather, furthermore he comes to the home situation and activity. These changes make the poetry literary. It is not monotonous.

After reading “Monsoon History”, I feel I like this poem in terms of its rythms, like “ soaks, smoke” “ curls and furled” and visual images like “soaks into mattresses, fat white slugs furled, rolling darkness, glory vines” and audio images like “ the air ticks with gnats, the air walking everywhere……..water.” Shirley cmposed this poem by overlapping metaphors and images to help reader to feel the Nyonas and Baba’s distinctive culture and customs.

To help me understand this poem, I would like to choose Formalism. Formalism stressed more on Fabula and Syzhet of the text. Fabula of this poem is about some personal experience and memories of her past life that was forty years ago in Mallaca. To bring readers to the past, she used the flashback to present the past, for example, “ Drinking Milo, Nyonya and Baba sit at home, this was forty years ago………..in the parlour.” Again, flashback is used to bring readers back to present time, such as “ Reading Tennyson, at six, pajamas….air ticks….our rooms.” To show the present time, Shirley used Rythms very well, to help readers enjoy her poem. At least I do enjoy it.

Personally, I take “Monsoon History” as a metaphor of history of Nyoa and Baba. This poem is like a mirror, by which what we can see and relect, it depends on personal feeling, it may not be the intention of the author. Positively, I see Nyonyas and Baba’s custom and culture as something very distinctive and fresh culture or hybrid culture. For many years, it has been exited in Mallaca for may years. Negatively, this poem shows me a sort of identity confusion. They wear “sarong”, eating with hands, but using “silver money for the dead. Hung portraits of grandfather in the parlour. “ it means this group of people mix up Malay culture and Chinese culture, eventually, they have duo identity or no clear identity. This poem shows , to me that life has to be carried on like monsoon rain year by year, no matter what kind of cultural identity one has.

We, as the learners should realise that literature is wide and rich with literary and underlying meanings as well. Therefore we should analysis in every angle in order to enjoy them. Many experts have came up with interesting Reading Approaches to tacle the literature works. The leaners should choose proper approaches in order to cultivate the interest and receive the 'gist' of it through the inner(heart)views or perceptions. There are four major approaches that we can use to make the reading more focusedas stated below:
1. Formalist reading
2. Reader response reading
3. Bakhtinian reading
4. Psychoanalytical reading
Each approaches have their own sub-elements to analysis literature more effectively. For the poem, 'Monsoon History' by Shirley Lim, we can use all the four reading approaches. However, I prefer to use the Formalist, Reader Response and Bakhtinian R.App. which are more practical for better understanding as it is obvious that the poem is rich with abundant imageries.By Formalist there are some repeatations of words such as the air that indicates the condition of monsoon season and used in a figurative language(Pesonification) where this word has given the human's value- The air walking everywhere. The mixture of two approaches of the Formalist and the Bakhtinian, we could notice that the flashback has turned into foregrounding in the last and third stanzas-The Baba and nyonya sit at home,This was forty years ago. The relationship between the time and setting within the lines from the present to the past which are also comes under the defamiliarazation. Through the reader response, the leaners will be able to express their feelings and perceptions towards the poem more freely. Besides that the notion of the words ( nativized- sarong,Baba, Nyonya, pantun) give the local students more confident and better understanding and provide with further exposure (indepth) on the culture,belief and tradition of the peranakan (Baba and Nyonya).

Hi comrades,

It seems like majority are in favour of the formalism criticism. After a few more readings, I agree with Enirolac ,Sue and Vani that Bakhtinian and Readers response too can be exploited in the reading of the poem.
I would like to add that in formalism, the fabula of “ Monsoon History” is a nostalgic recollection of a rainy day in the poet’s family during the monsoon season. Lots of insect imageries have established the foregrounding of the effects of the rain outdoor and it centers around the indoor Peranakan culture in stanza 3 and 4 when ‘nyonya baba’ was foregrounded again. After the first three stanza, defamiliarization sets in. It has digressed from outdoor and allows us to get a glimpse of the nyonya-baba’s heritage indoor. Hence, a syuzhet is created. Through formalism, the student can chart out various poetic devices apparent in the text like similes and metaphors. For example, ‘.. watch mother uncoil her snake hair..’ is an extended image of the uncoiling of the hair like a snake. Beyond that, there is also a chronological disruption when the poet shift from the present tense “ the air is wet …” to the past tense “ this was forty years ago …” It is about the flashback - memories of the poet’s childhood and the rich heritage which was vividly captured in the poem.

In Readers response, the readers will be actively exploring and seeking their repertoire trying to fill in the gaps. For instance, students can refer to repertoire such as the history of Malacca .Back in the fifteenth century, the descendants of the Chinese who came to Malacca have adopted the culture, dressing and language of the Malays.
Eg:
‘silver paper for the dead’…
‘portraits of grandfather,…..
‘we wash our feet…’
‘like sleepers rocked in the pantun,….
‘sarong-wrapped…’

Readers will understand more about the filial piety values among Chinese and ‘.wash your feet before you go to bed’ - nightly ritual of the Malays. Hope my explanation can answer Mayumeit2000’s queries and doubts about the ‘confused and duo identity’ of the Peranakans. This will also help to explain the birth of the Peranakan and it will concretize their understanding as to why we have the blend of the Malay- Chinese custom in the poem.

The readers from a diversity of background are the different interpretive communities. Personal identity like readers of Nyonya-Babas origins can share their personal heritage memories of the familiar and unfamiliar. Hence, the process of transaction between the poem and the reader can heighten the readers’ pleasure in reading the poem.


As for the Bakhtinian, there is relationship between voices, time and space within the poem. There is a notion of dialogics in time and space when the poet moves from rainy season outdoor to the warm and cozy atmosphere indoor. Similarly, it is also the formalist’s digression when there is a movement from the outdoor setting to the indoor setting. Besides, Bakthinian readers will identify the dialogics of words with the echoing patterns of words associated to nature too.
Eg:
‘small snails appear…
Morning glory vines……
The air ticks with gnats…….
Black spiders fly………
Termites………..’

‘The air is wet..
Curls in apparitions of smoke…..like fat white slugs
The air walking everywhere….on its hundred feet
By clouds and rolling darkness..
Listening to the down-pouring rain…’
.
All these point to the carnivalesque imagination of the wet and damp monsoon outside the house. Besides, in stanza 4, there is also dialogics of textual traces from the past when the poet wrote ‘ Reading Tennyson , at six p.m. in pyjamas’. It shows the harmonious filtration of some Western influence in her which has association with the British colonization of Malacca. At this point, we can again bring in the Readers Response to probe deeper to the poem.

Apart from that, Psychoanalysis is another possible approach to reading the poem. In response to Sue, the Peranakan is not a dying breed yet as the ‘dondang sayang’ is still thriving in many Peranakan cultural parades and performances. There are Nyonya cuisines, designs, lodges and other delicacies ever flourishing in Malacca. The Nyonya-Baba is very much in existence and it is a vital breed which gives Malacca its identity too. But I agree that the narrator’s subconscious is governed by Ego. She is reminiscing fondly about her Peranakan roots in Malacca setting. In stanza 1 and stanza 2, it appeals to the readers to fantasize about the wonders of nature outside. She helps us to maintain our subconscious contact with the beliefs and cultures of the Nyonya-Baba. She is equally concerned with the perception, memory and reasoning. For example in stanza 3 and 4, there is a memory of the overwhelming respect for the elders and subservience of wives to their spouses. Perhaps, the superego of the narrator is whether the clash of values and beliefs of the scions will clash and deviates from the old, binding culture of the Peranakan in the near future.

In a nutshell, I strongly recommend that we apply the various theories that we have learnt in the teaching of poems in schools. Be flexible and enjoy teaching literature.

Yes, I agree with your idea. I try to look this poem from Bakhtnian approach. Bakhtanian approach is a good choice. The air “is”, “curls”, “is” filled , the tense of the first sentence shows the time of “now”. The second paragraph is “now” again. The third paragraph was 40 years ago, about Baba and Nyonya used to drink milo. Also the “sarung wrapped”, “portraits Hung” . it presented how they practiced their culture, all of these are in past tenses, showing the time of the past at the same space. It shows the concept of dialogic in narrative time. Then the time moves back to “now” reading Tenyson, and six……..the air ticks. It talks about author’s home life. The forth paragraph moves back to now again, it talks about feet and monsoon. The ritual here is “monsoon” is started with “air” in the first paragraph. Then clouds, recollections of Nyonya and Baba forty years ago, later back to air ticks again. Then goes to strait after monsoon, last paragraph is ended with air again. By writing poem with changing space and time, author created sentimental feelings of missing towards Baba and Nyonya and sublimined to loving Malacca.

Formalism is the best approach as we can see from your analysis. since we are learning all the theories. we can try to see from other perspective. as Booker(p44) said, all theoriest are reader-response critics. but each theorist focus on different point. Now I would like to try reader response.

The title “monsoon history” tells the readers that monsoon should be around coast area geographically. “ Which coast” is in mind of reader. History is about past, but whose history? With these questions or gaps in mind of reader, as reader moves on further, which starts from “air”, to “tropical water”, until “Nyonya and baba drinking milo”. The “nyonya and baba” reminds the reader, the text is about Malacca. Malacca, as a physical location fills the gap of reader between his assumption and the actual information in the text. So the Malacca monsoon and Nyonya History. The forty years filled the gap of whose history. It was confirmed by “that is forty years ago, when nyonya married baba.” Twice of “forty years ago” stressed on history, so monsoon history represented feeling of author towards her parents. And she is a nyonya as well.

Monsoon History can be analysed by using the formal approach called Formalism whereby the reader has to identify the fabula first which designates the raw material which will be processed to become a narrative. The fabula should be purely chronological series of events, which will be recounted, in the order in which they took place, which is not necessarily the order of the narration.
According to the poem the monsoon rain is a familiar aspect of life in the East, where the poet spent her early years. Life around her home was full of activity which she describes through images of creeping insects. The poet gives an insight into the cross-cultural lifestyle of her family. Her parents wore sarongs (a Malay costume) but carried out the Chinese costume of counting silver paper as a mark of respect for the dead. They also hung photographs of their ancestors on the walls of their sitting room. All these are part of the practice of filial piety. The poet despite being surrounded by eastern cultural practices reads poetry by an Englishman. This reflects the kind of life the Babas and Nyonyas led- at one end steeped in eastern tradition and at the other end being western-educated. Theirs was an interesting blend of the east and the west. We are given a glimpse of what the nyonya traditionally wore. They dressed in sarongs, coiled their long hair into a bun and wore a silver belt to keep the sarong in place.Besides being western-educated, the Babas and Nyonyas could fluently recite pantuns. They lived in a close-knit community where they chose their spouse fom their own community. In this way, they were able to preserve their rich heritage.
Once the fabula has been analysed, the reader should look into Siuzhet which is purely literary and artistic construct. Through this way the reader will have a better understanding of the poem in depth. Therefore to study a poem, a reader needs to master the content first followed by other devices such as defamiliarisation and so forth.

This poem is seemed to be fitted for being analyzed by formalistic approach.
The rhyme of it is aa, bc, de, ae, ab, gb and d. Line 1, 2, 4, 7 rhyme with each other in the ending word of “s”; soaks, curls, slugs, covers. In line 6 and 8, the rhyme consist of a stressed syllable, and is called a feminine rhyme; tunneling – walking. Line 5 and 11 do not rhyme with any other line in the stanza.
In the opening line and the 3rd line along with the 4th line, there are some words alliterate ;

The air is wet, soaks
In apparition of smoke
Like fat white slugs

The poem, with the set of various images and similes, forewarn us about the presence of “ Defamiliarization” which the poet used to harden the ordinary scenes, we can easily see every day in our life. The images of “crawling snail on a log” ;

Like white slugs furled
Among the timber

Or the image of “slowly creeping myriapod” ;

Quietly like centipedes,
The air walking everywhere
On its hundred feet

, are not so rare to be seen in daily life, but here, the poet, using these images and likening some other objects like ; damp weather or soaky frost to the snails and centipedes, tried to make outstanding view of the common tropical climate.
Indeed, the air has been foregrounded through frequent repetition in the lines.

The air is wet, soaks
Like fat white slugs furled
Among the timber,

Or subtle images like;

Small snails appear
Clashing their timid horns

Or ;

the air ticks
With gnats, black spiders fly,
Moths sweep out of our rooms

Is attracted us to focus acutely to the ordinary events and enjoy them more.
However, the poet’s elusion from the main subject and his flashback to a long time before;

Nyonya and Baba sit at home.
This was forty years ago.
Sarong-wrapped they counted
Or ;

Sheltered by Malacca.
This was forty years ago,
When Nyonya married Baba.

Every now and then, indicating the use of “Digression” device by the poet to make it’s work more literary.
Furthermore, the application of elegant euphony as;

The air is wet, soaks
Into mattresses, and curls

Has risen the quality of literariness of the work.
As a conclusion, the poet, by the usage of different aspects of euphony, rhythm, alliteration and rhyme, along with narrow images through similiarization of object, plus with digression at times, has provided a poetic affair whose language differs from ordinary spoken language and can be analyzed more under the approach of formalism.

THANK YOU
AMIR HESARI
(P36007)

Yes Meng, most seem to be in favour of formalism. I see that you have given it a new twist: applying 3 theories at a go. Way to go! Today I am going to do my 2nd posting - Reader Response.

One would think that Monsoon History is all about the rainy season. Upon further reading and analysing, however, one's horizon of expectation changes as he realizes that the theme of the poem is not exactly anchored to a rainy season.

We can trace the transformation from the efferent mode(what is abvious) to the aesthetic mode(hidden meaning) by identifying the symbolization and resymbolization.

Below are some examples:
Symbolization
1. Slow moving insects like slugs and snails
2. Fast moving insects like gnats, spiders
3. Wet, darkness
4. Water soaks mattresses
5. potraits of grandfathers.....
6. Reading Tennyson and Drinking Milo
7. Sarong wrapped, silver paper


Resymbolization of the above:
1. Slow, contentment, sluggish.
2. Active, lively, eventful
3. Gloomy, bleak, dark, dank - showing a mood, maybe despair or helplessness or bleakness
4. Culture is deeply entrenched in the Baba & Nyonya community
5. The dead/ancestors are respected, revered and worshipped
6. Defamiliarization - foreign or western elements are brought in
7. Hybridity

Concretization of the poem is done through repertoires and in this case, through:
1. knowledge the writer's (Shirley Lim) educational background and her earlier writings which are almost always similar recollections.
2. stock/knowledge of familiar cultural materials - my own knowledge of the Baba & Nyonya acquired through reading

Therefore based on the above devices, modifications are made to the horizon of expectation. I will now interpret the poem as the narrator's poignant reflection of her people, the Baba & Nyonya and her despair/helplessness at the dying breed for their culture is being 'swallowed up' by their surroundings. They are unable to keep up with the fast changing world and Western elements inevitably come into the picture for the writer herself is western educated. The narrator illustrates the hybridity of the culture, showing both the Malayness and its Chinese persona. She too brings forth the contrast beween the old and young generation. The poem is her vivid and fond memories of her childhood days many years ago as she keeps reminding us, 'This was 40 years ago'.

I have posted my analysis and criticism about the Mansoon History in my first posting but now I would like to talk about the Formalist approach which I and most of the students used to analyze and criticize the poem.
The formalist approach, was created in early twentieth century. It is known as “New criticism”. Formalist Criticism concentrates on language and form. The earlier pioneers of this approach were; Plato who used dialectic and shape movement, Socrates who introduced the concepts of imagery, symbol, allusion, metaphor, characterization, tone and setting. And also Aristotle who advertised “orderly regulation of elements” which forms literary text or organism.
For the formalistic critics, art is a provider of some matters or truths through using connotative language like; allusion, metaphor, symbol, allegory…etc, makes the literary text different or defamiliarized from ordinary language.
As a result of that observation, they divide literature into two major genres; 1- The narrative literature, Prose. In analyzing a narrative literary text, their first concentration is on the operation and function of elements and parts, for, they notice that every narrative literature consists of two main components; the plot which carries the main subject of the story that is formed by actions and events. 2- In the analysis of poetry, the formalists concentration is on the techniques which make the poem distinguished from a prose, so the devices which prepare this prominence, like; euphony, rhythm, alliteration, consonance, repetition and rhyme, are more considerable. Totally, according to the formalists, poetry conveys the same information that prose does, but it just complicates and twists them so that the period of perception takes long and causes more sense of joy of life.
In this approach, some key concepts, terms and devices are outstanding and considerable. Hereby, we draw your attention for having a brief explanation of those terms; FORM, is the first material which formalists begin with. For them, every literary text includes the orderly organization of materials which create the total effect. Using different shapes of imagery, metaphor, symbols, allusions…, along with the rhythm and the idea of the author or narrator. Then, as they mention, the writer uses some techniques to shape the form of his/her art. These techniques may convey the reader to explore, discover, and develop the meaning of the work and evaluate it.
Imagery, symbols, metaphors, allusion, irony, paradoxes are totally defamiliarizing the text; formalists delight in precise analysis of imagery and stress on working out of it. According to their opinion, the value of literature becomes more when it defamiliarizes the familiar things to the reader. By using images, metaphor, allusions and symbols the writer makes the reader to think about some ordinary common events or materials and feel them.