Making Light of Grave Matters: Humour in Edith Eaton’s Works

ABSTRACT

When Edith Eaton (Sui Sin Far) published her only book Mrs. Spring Fragrance in 1912, it received about twenty reviews in the American and Canadian press. Many of the reviews suggested that the nature of the book was light and fresh, albeit the larger part of her works dealt with unsuccessful cases of Americanisation and their grave consequences. In this article, I will focus on the use of humour in what are perceived as Eaton’s light pieces. I argue that by making grave matters light, Eaton was able to secure publication while safeguarding her messages. More importantly, Eaton developed a special sense of humour, which I term a benevolent amusement, in her works. Her structurally coded messages, wrapped in multilayered humour, are like time capsules to be opened now.

KEYWORDS:

• Sui sin far
• Edith Eaton
• humour
• Chinese American literature
• the gilded age and progressive era

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 There are also several reviews that are more accurate, such as The Independent’s review:

conflict between occidental and oriental ideals and the hardships of the American immigration laws furnish the theme for most of the talks and the reader is not only interested but has his mind widened by becoming acquainted with novel points of view.

See “Literary Notes”, 388.

2 “Book Reaches the Heart”, 13.

3 “A New Note in Fiction”, 405.

4 “Mrs. Spring Fragrance”, 31.

5 “Book Reaches the Heart”, 13.

6 Ferens, “Tangled Kites”, 117–45.

7 Dietrich, Writing Across the Color Line, 7.

8 See Dupree, “Sui Sin Far’s Argument”, 78.

9 See Yin, “Between the East and West”, 49–84; Li, “Sui Sin Far”, 121–31.

10 See Yu, “Fanny Fern and Sui Sin Far”, 44.

11 Yang, “Slavery in Sui Sin Far”, 217.

12 Ling, “Revelation and Masks”, 50.

13 For example, Eaton’s humorous or comic pieces include “What about the Cat?”, “Misunderstood: The Story of a Young Man”; “The Origin of a Broken Nose”; “The Transformation of Wong-Toy”; “The Success of a Mistake” and so on. See [Sui Sin Far], “What About the Cat?”, 290–1; Idem, “Misunderstood”, 7–10; Idem, “The Origin”, 16–20; Idem, “The Transformation”, 427–9; Idem, “The Success”, 18–22.

14 Historian Robert Crunden argues that most of the progressives were born between 1854 and 1874, “[who] absorbed the severe, Protestant moral value of their parents”, see Crunden, Ministers of Reform, 25.

15 Kahan, “Urban America”, 37.

16 Eaton, “The Inferior Woman,” 36. Hereafter cited parenthetically by page number and abbreviated I.

17 Eaton, “Letter To Robert Johnson”.

18 White-Parks, “We Wear the Masks”, 1–2.

19 Dupree, “Sui Sin Far’s Argument”, 81.

20 DesRochers, The New Humor in the Progressive Era, 30.

21 Eaton, “Letter To Robert Johnson”.

22 Birchall, Onoto Watanna, xvi.

23 Yeats, “Civilization Stands Up to the Horde”, 167.

24 See Wang, “Quests from the Open Door”, 55–75.

25 Colcord, “Delong’s Wife”, 48.

26 Editorial Notes, 153.

27 Eaton, “The Inferior Woman”, 731.

28 Chinese family names are usually of one character, with some rare cases of two or more characters, but Spring Fragrance is not on the conventional list of names made up of two characters. Chin Yuen is a common name for overseas Chinese businesses, such as restaurants or takeaways. It originally means “golden garden”, a garden in a Buddhism temple.

29 Eaton, “In the Land of the Free”, 93–100.

30 Eaton, “A Trip in a Horse Car”, 3–7. Hereafter cited parenthetically by page number and abbreviated T.

31 Eaton [Wing Sing], “Wing Sing of Los Angeles on His Travels”, 201. Hereafter cited parenthetically by page number and abbreviated W.

32 Liu, “Write as Another”, 69.

33 Eaton, “Mrs. Spring Fragrance”, 20. Hereafter cited parenthetically by page number and abbreviated M.

34 This may be a variation of the Chinese saying “Green mountains will not change, green water will flow forever”, meaning with a resolute to remain true to each other, the friends will meet again.

35 Eaton, “Leaves”, 230.

36 Yang, “Slavery in Sui Sin Far”, 217.

37 Crunden, Ministers of Reform, 6.

38 “The Chinese Spirit”, 7.

39 White-Parks, A Literary Biography, 196.

40 Eagleton, Humour, 56.