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Of consciousness and agency, particularly for women, Teresa de Lauretis describes
the paradox of a being that is one captive and absent in discourse, constantly spoken of but of itself inaudible or inexpressive, displayed as spectacle and still unrepresented or unrepresentable, invisible yet constituted as the object and the guarantee of vision; a being whose existence and specificity are simultaneously asserted and denied, negated and controlled. (115)
Audre Lorde's "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" and Hisaye Yamamoto's short story, "Wilshire Bus" show how this paradox-- of being spoken about, seen, displayed yet also silenced, invisible, and controlled-unfolds in the ordinary, everyday lives of women. Lorde, through her battle with a deadly and debilitating disease, claims agency and voice, and challenges her readers to take transformative action. Yamamoto shows how one such transformative moment occurs, and then passes into silence because of the fear that incapacitates the story's main character, Esther Kuroiwa.
In her essay, Lorde immediately confronts her reader by naming (and thereby owning) the differences that may cause anxiety for some in her audience. She writes:
Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am woman, because I am Black, because I am lesbian, because I am myself-a Black woman warrior poet doing my work-come to ask you, are you doing yours? (Lorde 41-42)
By describing her battle against breast cancer, Lorde establishes community with her audience: a sense of powerlessness in the face of illness creates common bonds between reader and writer. Suffering from cancer has given Lorde a heightened awareness of what she describes as an even more deadly debilitation-her own silences. Silence, particularly when self-imposed, robs not just the one who chooses not to speak, but also the community as a whole. Waiting "for someone else's words," Lorde writes, will not protect those who witness and remain silent. Lorde uses questions to nudge her readers into response: "What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?" (41). Lorde's testimony and her technique of asking questions draw...