Legacy

"Little Candle In The Pulpit: The Sacred legacy of Memory and Genealogy In Li-Young Lee's
Book Of My Nights

Malandra, Marc. English Language Notes, Spring2006, Vol. 44 Issue 1, p19-27, 9p

In this article, Malandra discusses the importance of memory and family history in poet Li-Young Lee's work.
"Poet and memorist Li-Young Lee has frequently been singled out for his preoccupation with memory, with the fluctuating rhythms of personal identity as they engage the circumstances of an amazing family history."
She references Lee's poetry, as well as other writers ans students of Lee's work. One exapmle is a quote from Pierre Nora on family, memory, and history.
"Memory and history, far from being synomonous, are thus in many respects opposed...Memory is always a phenomenom of the present, a tying us to the eternal present; history is a represtation of the past. Memory, being a phenomenon of emotion and magic, accomodates only those facts that suit it...History, being an intellectual, nonreligious acctivity, calls for analysis and critical discourse. Memory situates rememberance in a sacred context."

Reading some of the excerpts from Lee's poems was very interesting for me. I love seeing how other artists, writers, poets, performers, or any other artistic person expresses themselves when dealing with memories and the past as a whole. I was also interested in how many artists, such as Li-Young Lee, see their geneaology and past experiences as sacred and dear to them. Family, history, and memories are things that all people can understand and relate to. The difference comes in how certain people relate and interact with these things.
My work deals heavily with family and memories. I hold these memories (photographs and family video footage) as sacred pieces of myself. This is what motivates me to work in this medium and with this subject matter. My viewers don't have to be part of my family or know any of the family history to be able to understand and appreciate my work. This is because the idea of memory and family is universal. I am working with a personal subject matter but am saying much more than how important my family is to me, as Li-Young Lee does wit his poetry. His work speaks on many different levels. It speaks to society as a whole and also has an undercurrent of religious symbolism. My work this past semester dealt with family and memory as well as Hindu and Buddhist concepts and ideas. I am using a subject that is dear to me as well as exploring what can be seen, taken, and learned about the world around me from these important, sacred memories.