Peripathetic: Notes on (un)belonging by Cher Tan
Peripathetic: Notes on (un)belonging (2024) by Cher Tan is an essay collection that undeniably prompts deep thought and introspection. Its title riffs off the word ‘peripatetic’, an adjective meaning to travel from place to place particularly when based in various places for relatively short periods. Tan’s nine essays are united by a feeling of rootlessness. To live and survive precariously (‘Shit Jobs’); to grapple with multilingualism and being a by-product of the legacy of colonialism (‘Lingua Franca’); to forge your own way in life as a creative amongst other things (‘This Unskilled Life’); and to have all of these intersect – these are the greater questions she considers. Despite being incredibly personal experiences, which gives the collection an idiosyncratic edge, the universality of Tan’s subjects are indisputably what makes parts of the work shine.
The opening essay, ‘Is This Real?’ dives straight into setting the scene for the world we live in today, described as one of “psyop realism:” “an increasingly atomised world where parody, fact, exaggeration, delusion and fantasy come together in a spectacular headlong collision.” As we toy with the possibility of war(s), as propaganda and misinformation run rampant, as we enter the period of tariff madness (iykyk), cutting to the heart of what reality is steers towards the impossible. This is something every living, breathing human being is subject to. It is inescapable:
“The things we rely upon to construct our individual identities and lifestyles have already constructed us – that's why they are ready at hand.”
To unpack Tan’s words, the world and its influences seep into who we are, sometimes consciously and other times subconsciously. Often, we use these for escape and for solace. For Tan, it is her practice as a creative – vocalist, writer, editor, critic and musicophile amongst other things – that is most obvious across the collection. While she may identify with these labels, ‘performing’ the different identities and lifestyles, it is really those labels that have constructed her. Exploring how this works, for better or for worse, she questions how much control we have over who we are, particularly in the hyper-real world we live in.
“On image-centric arenas such as Instagram… as well as text-based ones like…Twitter… some artists are personalities first and foremost: legions of stans providing affirmations in the comments, every word lapped up, gaffes possibly defended to the teeth.”
Art and capital dance a on a fiery tightrope nowadays as we feel the weight of the latest stage of capitalism corrode what’s left of our measly arts scene(s) internationally. Rather than stating this as a simple observation, Tan uses her signature reflective style to dissect this reality. Tan’s style – which reads as earnest and avoids pompousness – is peppered with a brains trust of theorists and writers such as Theodor Adorno, James Baldwin and Vladimir Nabokov, which are balanced out with topical twenty-first century references:
“Nearly seven decades later [after Nabokov’s television interview discussing Lolita], we can see that Nabokov lived in an era where the constraints of capital had yet to hit the art and media worlds. There's a reason why the mid-century period was widely considered to be ‘the golden age of capitalism’”.
Her essays, well researched and relatable, are not theoretical for theory’s sake nor solely designed to appeal to the chronically online reader. However, what often starts off as a contemplative exploration that “look[s] beyond the performance of everyday life, seeking answers that continually elude” gradually veers off into reflections that feel unfocused, leaving the reader struggling to find a clear throughline. The essays can often come off as overly meandering, as though the writer is simply thinking aloud without a definitive purpose. And while I can understand Tan’s intent to play with form, it feels unnecessarily convoluted.
For example, ‘Speed Tests’ looks at the evolution of digital piracy and its cultural implications. For the first section of the essay, readers get a lengthy and technical recount of the rise and fall of BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing platform used to scatter large amounts of data across the internet. The essay then sped to its next section, where Tan’s encounters with Singapore’s DIY punk scene are glossed over with little analytical gravity. Interspersed in all this are awkward footnotes, copyright symbols and the occasional italicised exchange I assume are text messages. There’s a lot going on for twenty-two pages, and not much for the reader to concentrate on and follow through to the end, due to the unconventional structuring of the work.
The collection overall presents snapshots of Tan’s inner mind. While she aims to expand on the greater theme of rootlessness, whether that be through self-surveillance or commodification, a lack of clear argument or cohesive structure could disappoint readers who expect such a collection to delve deep. While this may be an attempt to open up possibilities of what the essay form can do rather than limit them, it also creates the sense that Tan is hesitant to take a stand. This raises the question of whether the ambiguity is serving the reader’s understanding or whether it risks alienating them by failing to offer any substantive conclusions.
This article has been commissioned in partnership with Diversity Arts Australia’s StoryCaster project, supported by Multicultural NSW, Creative Australia and Create NSW.
Danny Yazdani is an emerging Iranian-Australian writer who originates from Western Sydney. He is an English and Sociology graduate from the University of Sydney. Danny enjoys writing across a range of forms and genres, and is fascinated by social issues with a BIPOC focus. He has been published by Honi Soit, the Writing and Society Research Centre, Salience, and Aniko Press. Additionally, Danny writes regularly for arts organisations Playwave and ArtsHub as an arts critic. Most recently, Danny has successfully completed the StoryCasters Program by Diversity Arts Australia, received a Varuna Residential Fellowship, and will be published in Multicultural NSW’s NewPoint Magazine in 2025.