We're always observing, and we're cautious people. We really want attention, but at the same time, we're ashamed of wanting attention. All those bizarre qualities of being outside are necessary for being a writer.
Min Jin LeeRead
As a woman of colour, as a person who is a minority, I believe its important that other people know about my language and I don't necessarily have to explain. In the same way, when I read 19th-century literature and if I have to understand a Latin phrase or a French phrase, it is incumbent upon me to learn it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of cultural awareness and the responsibility to learn different languages and perspectives.
Min Jin Lee highlights the significance of understanding one's own identity as a woman of color and a member of a minority group, emphasizing that awareness of her language and culture is essential for others. She draws a parallel to the expectations placed on readers of 19th-century literature, who often must familiarize themselves with foreign phrases, suggesting that the responsibility to learn and understand different cultures should be mutual.
Themes
CultureLanguageIdentityEducationAwarenessMinority
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about diversity in education, this quote can be used to stress the need for cultural awareness.
More from Min Jin Lee
All quotes →Twenty-five million people who live in North Korea are denied freedom in every respect of their lives. In short, they are hostages. Imagine 25 million hostages.
Min Jin LeeRead
My father was born on Christmas Day in 1934. He grew up in what is now part of North Korea. When the Korean War began, my father was 16, and he found passage on an American refugee ship,thinking he'd be gone for just a few days, but he never saw his mother or his sister again.
Min Jin LeeRead
I think it's not an accident that you don't have that many Asian American women writers who are breaking out. I don't think it's an accident that you don't have that many Asian American writers, either women or men. I don't think that immigrants are encouraged to become artists. That's very gendered and racialized and ethnicized.
Min Jin LeeRead
Koreans are worried about the Japanese right-wing people, who tend to be against foreigners. But the Koreans in Japan aren't even foreigners. They are essentially culturally Japanese. If a family has lived in Japan for three generations, it's absurd to see them as foreigners.
Min Jin LeeRead
I've often felt like an outsider, not necessarily because I'm Korean, an immigrant, or female. I think writers are odd people.
Min Jin LeeRead
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