Introduction
Ling Ma is a Chinese American novelist who currently works as an assistant professor of practice in the arts at the University of Chicago. A writer who takes interest in narrative tropes and genres of popular culture, she works with her students to enjoy the process of writing.
“The best part about starting out as a writer is the freedom to make anything you want, to experiment and take risks, adhering to or breaking whichever rules you choose. In the end, however, we are only ourselves, and it is the work we produce, even in its roughest drafts, that ultimately informs us what we’re trying to do.” – Ling Ma
One of her works of fiction is a book called Severance, released in 2018. The narrative is set in an alternate timeline in late 2011 told through flashbacks and the present by the protagonist, Cadance Chen, who works at a fictional company called Spectra, a publishing company that handles book production that she finds unfulfilling. While working there, a fungal infection comes over to the United States and slowly starts taking lives. Called Shen Fever, it originated from Shenzen, China (hence the name). The infection weakens the human body as the immune system can’t fend off against the fungal spores, and a cure has not been invented. As society slowly starts to collapse, Cadence eventually finds herself in a position where she has to fend off for herself. Since this is set in an alternate world, events like Occupy Wall Street and others have taken a different course because of the pandemic. After release, the book has won the Kirkus Prize, the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.
While reading this book, one of the things that stands out to me was the references to photography. In the book, Cadence has held an interest in photography and runs a blog known as NY Ghost. As she describes it,
“The ghost was me. Walking around aimlessly, without anywhere to go, anything to do, I was just a specter haunting the scene. A wind could blow and knock me to Jersey or Ohio or back to Salt Lake. It seemed appropriate that I kept the blog anonymous. Or maybe the anonymity was because I didn’t know whether the photos were any good. What I enjoyed, or at least what I felt compelled to keep doing, was the routine.” – Ma 41
The concept of photography could have a lot of interpretations in the story. For one thing, noted from the quote above, it is a part of who Cadence is. It is something that she either enjoys doing or at least feels like doing, which is a piece of her mentality that the people around her do not seem to understand. Another thing about photography are the photos. Photos can hold meaning in them. It can tell a story from a point of time. It can convey emotion and say things without saying anything. In this case, it is these kinds of images that can shows movement through time.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Helena. “How to Get around New York City: First Timer’s Guide.” Helena Bradbury, Helena Bradbury, 27 Feb. 2021, www.helenabradbury.com/blog-1/using-transport-new-york-city.
Horsfield, Caitlin. “NYC Is Redesigning Its Trash Cans and You Can Have a Say in the Final Selection.” Secret NYC, Secret NYC, 18 Dec. 2018, secretnyc.co/nyc-redesigning-trash-cans-can-say-final-selection/.
Hu, Winnie. “N.Y.’s Changed Streets: In One Spot, Traffic Speeds Are up 288%.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Apr. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-empty-streets.html.
Ma, Ling. “Ling Ma.” Department of English Language and Literature, The University of Chicago, english.uchicago.edu/people/ling-ma.
Tapia, Sofie. “Horse Goes on a Walk Alone Every Day for 14 Years, Receives Pets and Treats from Residents.” Bored Panda, Bored Panda, 18 Apr. 2019, www.boredpanda.com/horse-daily-walking-alone-frankfurt-germany/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic.