Sze (Nikki)

During the process of creating your digital story, what did you discover through the experience? 

“It is life, been through so much but I am doing very well now.”

After watching your digital story, what did you learn about yourself?

“I was nervous and I have to learn my grammar better.”

Cumulatively, I recorded 1.5 hours of footage of Sze (Nikki). I produced four (1-3 min) videos documenting memories, moments, and stories Sze shared during our time together. I recorded Sze in her nail salon in Beaver Dam, WI, during a client's nail service. We were talking about cultural challenges she has experienced while running her business. She explained to me how her children in school notice the outspoken nature of American children. However, she notices her children are adopting that type of way of communicating because they have a better handle on English. 

Sze explains what Glenn identifies as “expected silence” culturally in Malaysia, where adults have a “communal” silence (Unspoken 11). Sze’s silence carries a meaning of respect to her cultural customs. She explains that there are things that should be “realized” and don’t need to be expressed as “so straight up.”On the negative to positive silence spectrum, I think depending on who she is around, the silence could resonate differently. Her silence of caution she expresses as  “saying the wrong words” to her customers comes from a place of fear, thus negative silence. On the other hand, when she is amongst the silence of people from her culture, it would fall more toward a tranquil, mutual understanding of positive silence.  

Language and cultural differences influence Sze’s censorship of her words at her job. She carries her silence of respect into the words she decides to express to her customers. She fears saying the wrong word and creating drama or misunderstanding, which Johannesen underscores in his sixteenth point for interpersonal meanings of silence: “The person’s silence reflects concern for not saying anything to hurt another person”(qtd in Glenn, Unspoken 11). Silence protects Sze from hurting others with a language she is not fully comfortable in using. Her digital story sheds light on her silence. It lifts her voice to highlight her selective action with her words. By expressing her feelings around her speech, her silence rhetorically functions as a way to protect the reputation of  her business (livelihood) and her relationship with her customers.