WGS Brown Bag Lunch

For my Women's and Gender Studies event, I attended Ina's Brown Bag lunch presentation, "Puzzling Combinations: Life Writing and Transnational Adoption." This presentation focused on one component of her dissertation concerning transnational adoption and an autobiography written by Jane Jeong Trenka, a South Korean woman who went through the transnational adoption process and was adopted by an all white Minnesota family. Instead of assimilating into American culture, Jane Jeong Trenka attempted to stay true to herself and is currently a social activist and write in Seoul and wants to abolish the transnational adoption process in order to help children avoid that loss of identity and loss of self that can come with transnational adoption.

One thing that really stood out to me about Trenka and Ina's presentation was Trenka's usage of activism tools and genre-mixing in her memoir about the connection between children's transnational adoption and globalized oppression of poor women. Some of these methods include plays, musicals, personal ads, stand-up comedy, crossword puzzles, etc. I think these methods are unique and present a different take on the typical traditional activism. Instead of utilizing traditional methods, such as a petition or a sit-in, Trenka makes a powerful narrative and argument against transnational adoption and the potential negative impact that it has on children, creating a more emotional connection to her audience. After hearing about her memoir, I am interested in hearing more about life writing and transnational adoption in order to better understand the process, as well as read autobiographies that do not follow the stereotypical route of assimilation autobiographies.