Renee Liang muses about the meaning of Bananas and the significance of the Banana Conference, an event which encourages dialogue between local Chinese and the wider community. She talks to writers Liu Shueng Wong and Alison Wong about the ideas behind such an event.

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This weekend, I’m going to a unique event – “Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International Conference”.  More popularly, known as just The Banana Conference. 

WTF? Is this some weird African farmer’s meeting?  Far from it.  ‘Banana’ is a homegrown term for local-born Chinese.  Originally, it was some sort of reverse-race insult, used to imply that someone was ‘yellow on the outside, white on the inside’ – ie not Chinese enough.  Like all migrant cultures, the Chinese swing from wanting to integrate fully into ‘Kiwi’ society to wanting to build walls around themselves and preserve their culture.  And culture, integration and the redefinition of success are what is being talked about at this Banana Conference, the fourth in five years.

I have to say that I’m very proud of my Chinese ‘elders’ for organizing this conference.  For indeed, it is our more mature leaders who are rounding everyone up for a big, old-fashioned korero.  Including  all those bright young things who are chafing at the bit.  There’s everyone from politicians to business leaders to artists and musicians, and enough sessions for everyone to toss in their ideas.  And even though this year’s event is in the rather austere confines of the Auckland University Business School, there will be plenty of colour and warmth, too.  Not to mention (if it’s anything like previous years), yummy homemade banana cake.

So – why is it important to have this kind of thing? 

I’ve always been envious of the wealth of hui, fono and other consultations planned to canvas the opinion of the original people of the land, and of the Pacific region so vital to NZ’s relations and growth.  Which is exactly what should be happening.  But how about other cultures?  The powers-that-be, the funders, often seem to ignore or exclude them.  Not always and not deliberately, granted, but still, the perception is out there. 

Also, our own community is fractured along lines of generation, dialect, language ability, migration wave and ancestral village, to name but a few factors.  (I’m still startled every time I encounter someone who thinks ‘all Asians are the same .’)  So we need to get together and talk sometimes.   This conference is to give us, the Chinese who have made NZ our home, a voice and a chance to talk to each other and to outsiders.  Yes, non Chinese are invited too! 

And of course, anything called The Banana Conference is bound to have a few cool little creative quirks.  One of these is a short story competition, reserved for people of Chinese background  – an event which recognizes the fact that culture is created through the recording of stories and the making of art.  More on that in my next blog.

And there are also several panels which specifically address creativity in our culture and celebrate established and emerging artists.  That emphasis and importance is something to be lauded in this conference.  More and more New Zealanders of Chinese origin are entering the arts as well as the more traditional spheres of business and science.

It's time to change the perception that Chinese are quiet uncomplaining workers, the 'model minority'. I remember being told by my mother "not to make any trouble" even if I thought something was wrong. But when you're brought up in the NZ system, you're also encouraged to speak your mind and this is exactly what my generation of "Kiwi-Chinese" do. I've just had an exciting image - we're sitting on top of a huge blank canvas, ready to define our brand new culture.  But we can't ignore the grooves and bumps of previous canvasses piled underneath, still moving and changing beneath us.

But back to the Banana Conference.  To kick off the debate on whether ethnically-orientated meetings are useful, I’ve asked Liu Shueng Wong, writer, documentary maker and one of the Banana Conference organizers, to comment:

Renee:  What things can an event like the Banana Conference achieve?

Liu Shueng Wong:
Many things!!  It:
1.  Increases the profile of Chinese to Chinese, then to other ethnic groups (as a model to work or think towards) and then to mainstream.

2. Gives people a specific time to come together.  I understand this year there will be 300 people, so that is its own indication.

3. It gives the Chinese a chance to show the range of things that Chinese do, by the format of the Banana Conference.

4. It makes a group within an ethnic community to develop skills well beyond the usual ethnic community event.  It is one of the best models of Community development I know.

5. It forces a level of creativity that has never been tapped into the community before, displayed and talked about.

6. It gets mainstream New Zealanders (because of the publicity) to rethink their stereotyping of Chinese in NZ.

7. Each year the conference gets greater numbers of people from mainstream, or the young, or international students etc.

8. It challenges people, beyond the ‘gosh we can be proud of that person... Or this event...’ and think of other issues that makes the community better informed.

9. Sponsors have said that it is the only group (ethnic) to do this, and praise the initiative.

10. It is now a event on the Auckland calendar, and I think that is a real achievement because it works against the silent minority category of development.

11. It is a step that mainstream can make to step towards the Chinese community when they feel awkward to do make a move to ethnic communities.

12. It is the range of the panels that is one of the drawcards – it explores more new ground each time, so it explores history, present and future.

13. It steps between academic and community so it suits most people – some people love academic, and others love community driven panels.

14. It develops opportunity for Chinese leadership to move towards making contribution to conference.

15. It allows Chinese control of their own PR because the agenda is one step ahead of the mainstream.

In summary –  it gives a heap of people an opportunity to hear and do stuff they would not do if the event did not take place – AND it is NOT those dreaded ‘Ds” - dance, dress and dine!!!!!

I am not sure who would find this at all difficult, because it IS the model that NZ has, and the model all over the word, where the minority voice is taking greater space on the world stage.   But the only way the audience can appreciate this effort etc... Is to be clear about their own ethnicity.  So that takes it back to the Banana Conference, that always reinforces the Chinese identity in a wider and more complex form each time it happens.

(whew).

Renee:  Many competitions and development programs in the arts limit by ethnicity,  purportedly to encourage new voices and to grow communities.  Yet such programs can be both inclusive and exclusive.  Do you think such programs have a place in encouraging the Asian voice in the arts?

Liu Shueng Wong:
This needs to be nurtured if in the end the Chinese Community wants what is offered in the arts, to have any ethnic focus.  And the beginning of this is to nurture our own groups first.  The pattern is set by the way Maori and Pacific have done this so well (I get really envious, or slightly despairing  when I see that publicity, and then I look out and say ‘what are our groups?’ )

We Chinese do have the tendency to be a silent minority, so it is our group that has to take responsibility to break out of this.  For this to happen though, people, individual artists need to be supported, need all sort of skills and need to support each other.

The Short Story competition was a beginning, and it is not just any old competition – it has status, it is published and it has money.  That’s a great start.
The Going Bananas Short Story competition is very defined, because other stories can go to other competitions after people ‘have a go.’  Some Chinese will see their expression beyond the confines of this competition, and work with mainstream or other ethnic groups.  I do not see this as a conflict – there are choices here, but the Short Story competition helps some to get on the first step (I hope).

I think it is worth mentioning that there are also groups of Chinese who do not find their ‘ethnicity’ something they want to focus upon. There is room for that as well.  There is not one fit here, but the more areas, facets that are supported, the more likely we, Chinese will eventually get a voice ‘out there’ .  So far I have hardly heard a few tonal sentences, but gosh, we need a whole conversation.  What I think is the hard bit, and that Maori have done this well, to create something that has their Maori message, but appeals to mainstream theatre goers, etc... So it steps over those issues that must be addressed – you know, bums on seats.

Renee:  Is there such a thing as the Chinese NZ novel? 

Liu Shueng Wong:
I think that this happens when a Chinese person writes about the history or the present situations of their lives in New Zealand.  What makes it different, it is that the writer’s perspective is Chinese, and it will be different to a Pakeha writing the same history.  That is how a Chinese NZ novel would make a point of difference.   This is clear in NZ through Maori writing.  In no way a Pakeha could write a Whale Rider. 

On the other hand, there is also no way a Chinese could write a Owen Marshall short story either.  But there is a place, and gap that is near empty for Chinese to write and give the silence a voice. 

I also asked my friend Alison Wong the same question.  Alison has just released her long awaited first novel, When the Earth Turns Silver (Penguin NZ and Picador Australia, also coming out early next year with Picador UK and Asia and in French with Liana Levi.)

Alison Wong:
The answer to the question of “is there such a thing as the Chinese NZ novel? “ is absolutely NO. After all, how can a novel or a single voice sum up the Pakeha NZ experience? Chinese are as individual as Pakeha, Maori, Pacific peoples and everyone else in NZ. We need many voices and many stories to overcome the stereotypes and pigeon-holing. We need the freedom to be whoever we want to be, and having many different 'Chinese NZ' novels, stories and voices are just part of that.

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I find myself nodding vigorously with these answers. Because Liu Shueng and Alison agree with each other – more voices we have, the more unique and true-to-self voices, the better our society will be.  I don’t think I’m talking idealistic nonsense here.

‘Banana’ was a label that has been turned around and now helps to define a culture, just like many other ethnic labels.  Words are powerful indeed.  So long as we use those  labels to start us talking rather than limit what we feel we can say, we can make good stuff. So let’s keep it happening, folks. Let’s keep talking Bananas and Coconuts and Potatoes and all those other tasty labels. Let's grow them!!

Comments? Got any labels you want to question or use??