The Four Generations of Chang E — Author's Notes

 

As an Immortal who lives on the Moon, Chang E is an obvious candidate to feature in science fiction. She's also the most overseas of all overseas Chinese — a natural stand-in for the sprawling Chinese diaspora.

I was obviously thinking about immigration when I wrote the story, but I don't mean for it to be taken as the one true narrative of diaspora. It's not even really reflective of my own experiences of immigration. There is a certain progression from the first to the fourth generations, but while that is convenient for the purposes of a story, it's not like I really think there is a linear progression with something as complicated as immigration and its impact on cultures, communities and identities.

As a person poised between worlds you are always keenly conscious of the various other people you could have been, the other lives you could have lived. The story posits a set of lives Chang E could have had, but there are so many others.

 

Go to next story: The Many Deaths of Hang Jebat

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