Guy Delisle. Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China.
Chuan-Yao, Lin ; Shook, David
Guy Delisle. Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China. Helge Dascher, tr.
Montreal. Drawn & Quarterly. 2006. 148 pages, ill. $19.95. ISBN 1-894937-79-1
SHENZHEN is Guy Delisle's second Asian travelogue to be
translated from French into English. Like its English-language
predecessor Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (Drawn and Quarterly,
2005), Shenzhen is a basically chronological recounting of the
author's fish-out-of-water experiences in Asia. At Shenzhen's
beginning, Delisle remarks that time had blocked out the negative
portion of his Chinese memories. He writes, "I rediscover what
I'd forgotten: the smells, the noise, the crowds, the dirt
everywhere." The vignettes that follow seem to be variations of
that theme.
Like Pyongyang, the book's plot is minimal. Delisle is sent to
Shenzhen by his employer, a French animation studio, to supervise
outsourced animation. The anecdotal method of narration sometimes
disrupts the story's movement with awkward transitions. Though the
author writes the illustrated anecdote well, the book's lack of
continuous narrative discourages a complete portrayal of his characters.
Too often, the Chinese he encounters are merely amusing, almost silly.
When compared to the Koreans of Pyongyang, they are too often flat.
Delisle is careful not to take his autobiographical character too
seriously either. Illustrated as the book's only character with a
protruding nose, he mocks his own trips to the gym and his limited skill
in maneuvering his bike through the thousands of other bicyclers on
Shenzhen's streets.
Delisle's cynicism drives the book's humor but also
focuses primarily on what he perceives to be the negative aspects of
China. Instead of actively engaging Chinese culture, he focuses on his
status as a cultural outsider. Shenzhen's humor largely relies on
the intercultural awkwardness Delisle conjures by his unwillingness to
accommodate the everyday happenings of Chinese life. The cleanness of
Shenzhen's illustration evokes a whimsical feel that downplays the
book's cynicism. Though his drawing style is simple, Delisle's
work vividly conveys the nuanced cityscape of Shenzhen.
Despite its occasional flaws, primarily the flatness of most of the
Chinese characters, Shenzhen succeeds as a cynically humorous meditation
on the nature of being an outsider. Guy Delisle offers Western
reinterpretations of the Chinese lifestyle. He goes so far as to
transpose Dante's levels of hell to China. After a weekend spent in
the excellent cafes of Canton, closer to Inferno than Shenzhen, his
return to a city that only serves instant coffee is depressing. His
reaction is typical Delisle: "I just hope they don't serve
instant coffee in Limbo."
Ling Chuan-Yao & David Shook
University of Oklahoma
