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NPR's Book of the Day

'Feeding Ghosts' is a graphic memoir grappling with generational trauma

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 β€’ 672 Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 21 March 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tessa Hulls' grandmother, Sun Yi, was a dissident journalist in Shanghai who faced intense political persecution during the Chinese Communist Revolution; she suffered severe mental distress after fleeing to Hong Kong. In today's episode, Hulls tells Here & Now's Scott Tong that her grandmother's trauma often cast a shadow over their family – one she had been running away from for years, and one she decided to finally face in her new graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts. It's a reexamining of Hulls' matriarchal lineage, of Chinese history and of generational love and healing.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. When you undergo a project that involves

0:07.6

looking back into your family history, asking questions about who these people were that came before

0:12.7

you, you kind of have to be prepared to not like them, or at least come away with a more

0:18.0

ambivalent idea of them, right, unless you're only interested

0:21.0

in hagiography, which, you know, you do you. But if you are looking for truths, you'll probably

0:26.4

come across some unpleasant ones along the way. That's what happened to comics artist Tessa Hulse,

0:31.7

who's got a graphic memoir out called Feeding Ghosts, where she examines the impact of China's

0:36.7

cultural revolution on her family.

0:38.8

And in this interview with here and now Scott Tong, she talks about certain calculated

0:43.1

decisions that her grandma made, that gave her a more nuanced view of her grandmother.

0:49.4

That's ahead.

0:50.7

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

0:55.6

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

1:00.1

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

1:02.1

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people

1:05.4

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

1:09.4

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:14.8

How do you tell a story of painful losses and trauma that goes down through generations?

1:20.5

Well, for artist and author, Tessa Hulls, you're right, a graphic memoir, which not only tells

1:25.4

how her mother and her grandmother went through China's

1:27.6

cultural revolution, but also lets us see their pain through her drawings and her own

1:33.3

legacy of trauma. The book is called Feeding Ghosts, and author Tessa Hulls joins us now. Welcome

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