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John Edwin A. Malabuyo
ENLIT 12: Global Voices and Encounters - A2
October 14, 2023
“The Silence of the Asonu” (Ursula Le Guin)
Possibilities of Thought in the Literature of the Global
(Midterm Paper)
Analyzing global literature necessitates listening to the voices inside and outside of
the text. Thus, analyzing “The Silence of the Asonu” by Ursula Le Guin seems like a
contradiction. What voice is there to analyze in a species that refuses to speak – a race so
opposed to the idea that the gaps between their utterances span years? Of what use is studying
a fictional society so primitive that they lead nomadic, pastoral lives? Yet, the lens of the
“global” enables us to go past these initial assumptions, forming better reflections on Le
Guin’s speculative science fiction piece. Upon close reading, we realize that “The Silence of
the Asonu” skillfully portrays speculativity and diversity through interplaying the ideas of
objectification, apophenia, and imposition.
“It can be a real pleasure to know when the cat walks into the room that he won’t
mention any of your shortcomings, or that you can tell your grievances to your dog without
his repeating them to the people who caused them.” This line introduces the rationale of the
tourism experienced by the Asonu. It uses simile to to show that outsiders delighted in their
quiet company akin to the companionship provided by a pet. This demonstrates an innocent
objectification of their society: an appreciation for their quirk which people used to their
advantage, but not to the detriment of the Asonu. “People who live with animals value the
charm of muteness,” so if people avoid hurting their animals, why would they harm the
Asonu?
“It may be that they keep silence because if they spoke everything of importance
would have been said.” This line marks the transition from the visitors’ guiltless act of
pleasure into the religious desire to study the Asonu. A devotee from Ohio observed one
“Elder of Isu” over four years to collect eleven utterances, taking months and years in
between words. Some of these include, “not there”, “yes”, and “soon”. Each of these
unremarkable statements were interpreted into commandments. The utterance “not there” was
interpreted as “What we seek is not there in any object or experience of our mortal life; we
live among appearances, on the verge of the Spiritual Truth.” It should be kept in mind that
the elder said this while only looking for something in a chest of clothing. Does this
interpretation reflect the Elder's intended meaning, or was the devotee grasping at something
absent?
“Believing that the Asonu enforce silence on their children, his plan was to encourage
the little girl to keep talking as she grew up.” This shift takes us from a curiosity rooted in
understanding and exploration to a darker curiosity, where an extremist kidnaps a
four-year-old Asonu child, hoping to make her speak by forcibly breaking their silence. As
the child grew, her linguistic abilities didn't develop but dwindled into silence. The captor
resorted to physical punishment in futile attempts to make her talk. Arguably, the captor's
assumption was flawed: Why compel an individual to assimilate into an ability that does not
belong to them?
The queries in this are tackled in the documentary “Why Koko (Probably) Couldn't
Talk (Sorry) | The Deep Dive”. Koko the gorilla became renowned in the 1970s for her
“ability” to use sign language. This, along with her emotional connection with her
researchers, were filmed and shown on national television. It made her an icon in the field of
animal communication research. Suspicious of this, Soup Emporium compiled and studied
three years worth of research on language acquisition and behavioral psychology to prove or
disprove Koko’s linguistic ability. He concludes that she did not reach the level of true
language. She heavily relied on rote memorization, primarily associating specific gestures
with the reward of food. Essentially, Koko often repeated signs from researchers without a
comprehensive understanding of their meaning (Emporium).
Objectification weaves its way through the narratives of Koko the gorilla and the
Asonu society. Koko’s existence became a subject of enjoyment. Her supposed ability to
acquire language was celebrated in a way that rendered her a mere spectacle and curiosity for
the masses rather than honoring her as a living creature. Similarly, the Asonu found
themselves objectified as a species, reduced to a commodity, with their unique silence used
for the amusement of tourists.
The researchers delving into animal communication, and the devotee interpreting the
utterances of the Asonu both exhibit a profound human desire to decipher meaning where
silence prevails. There is a self-inflicted task of translation into a comprehensible and
meaningful narrative, with sign language for Koko or the sparse utterances of the Asonu
Elder,. This idea is encapsulated in the term “apophenia”: coined by German neurologist
Klaus Conrad, it characterizes the human inclination to discern meaningful patterns and
connections within random and unrelated information or stimuli (Love). The devotee's
interpretation of the Elder's utterances is akin to the researchers' attempts to decode Koko's
signs. In both cases, it seems that the interpretations are only products of human projections
and assumptions.
The harrowing tales of the abused gorillas in the Koko narrative and the kidnapped
child from the Asonu are sobering reflections of the dark facets of human behavior under
culture imposition: to force values and expectations onto individuals who belong to different
cultures or species. The fervor to make the gorillas conform to human language and the child
to speak, despite the lack of cultural context, stems from a misguided sense of superiority.
This act of imposing one's culture on others, driven by a lack of understanding and respect for
their unique identities, leads to cruelty, suffering, and the negation of their intrinsic qualities.
It emphasizes the importance of respecting and appreciating diversity and recognizing the
intrinsic worth of different cultures, whether they are human or animal, instead of forcing
conformity based on one's own perspective.
Replace Asonu with the name of any
marginalized group and we see Le Guin’s point.
Le Guin’s ideas are thoughtfully balanced to underline the significance of recognizing
diversity while reflecting on the human inclination to interpret silence and seek meaning in
diverse forms of communication. However, as these narratives reveal, the interpretations
often reflect our own projections and assumptions. In embracing the global, we must
celebrate the diversity of voices and narratives worldwide, recognizing that not everything
needs to conform to a singular mold. By acknowledging and respecting the value of different
cultures and ways of communication, we encourage a harmonious coexistence of diverse
thoughts and ideas. The tale of the Asonu people enables us to embrace and celebrate this
diversity, recognizing that it is within these varied voices that the true essence of the global
human experience is found: where there are no boundaries, no endpoints, and no corners.
Works Cited
Primary Text
Le Guin, Ursula. “The Silence of the Asonu.” Changing Planes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, 2003.
Secondary Sources
Emporium, Soup. “Why Koko (Probably) Couldn’t Talk (Sorry) | the Deep Dive.” YouTube,
YouTube, 5 May 2021,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7wFotDKEF4&ab_channel=SoupEmporium.
Love, Shayla. “When the Human Tendency to Detect Patterns Goes Too Far: Psyche Ideas.”
Psyche, 19 Sept. 2023,
psyche.co/ideas/when-the-human-tendency-to-detect-patterns-goes-too-far.