It took me a while to really get into Dictee. I wasn’t really getting anything out of it and it didn’t make any sense to me. I was just reading the words without really seeing or caring about anything beyond that. I thought the words “sounded” cool and I appreciated them for that, but my main goal in the reading was basically just to get through it.

Then I started noticing aspects of the book’s form and Cha’s style of writing that jumped out at me and I was like “OMG! Core 3!” (Vivian L. and Nicole know what I’m talking about…)

Last semester in Core 3 I studied “artist books” (…as in books made as a form of art, not a book about artists) and I think Cha’s book fits very well into this category. It is not just a book; it is a piece of art. I especially started to make this connection in the ERATO/LOVE POETRY section (page 91) when Cha starts playing with the form of the text and how the reader is meant to read it (alternating between pages).

One of the defining characteristics of an artist book is the way the information is conveyed. The book is not just a container for words; it is a part of the message itself. Every aspect of the book—content and form—is compiled into a coherent whole and intended to emphasize some central theme. Dictee is a great example of how meaning is realized through how a subject is told and not only by what is told.

One of the sections that I really liked, that made me stop and read it over again was the chapter called MELPOMENE/TRADGEDY (starting on page 77). I was attracted by the language and the “aura” (?) of the passage. For me, this was a part of the book where the writing style really added to the meaning. The way the text is written here allows you to feel what the speaker is going through. You don’t just listen to the story being told, you are living it as it happens.

For example, the sharp, quick sentences (“Run. Run hard. Out the gate. Turn the corner (83)”) convey the rushed, anxious feeling that the actual character would be experiencing. You become invested in the story. It draws you into the pages. Even if you don’t completely understand what’s going on, you are living the moment, feeling it, and that is what matters.

I really like this paragraph on page 84:
“My brother. You are all the rest all the others are you. You fell you died you gave your life. That day. It rained. It rained for several days. It rained more and more times. After it was all over. You were heard. Your victory mixed with rain falling from the sky for many days afterwards. I heard that the rain does not erase the blood fallen on the ground. I heard from the adults, the blood stains still. Year after year it rained. The stone pavement stained where you fell still remains dark.”

Cha is able to create vivid and stunning imagery with simple language and short sentences. It’s all in the form, how she presents the words. Dictee is a very emotional text and if nothing else, even if I didn’t understand exactly what Cha was trying to say, I at least got a sense of how she felt about the subject. Even if I didn’t know the context of the passage or what event the words were referring to, I could sense the pain, anguish, struggle and loss in them.