Cover Photo: photo by Edson Chilundo/flickr
photo by Edson Chilundo/flickr

ハーフ (Hafu): On the Fetishization and Mistranslation of a Biracial Identity

Hafu carries insinuations of otherness; of not belonging, but being fetishized. How do I carry this name and this history at once?

This isMistranslate, a monthly column byNina Li Coomesabout language, self-expression, and what it means to exist between cultures.

Ninan-girlfavorgraceflowerNi Na

Ni Nanibenevolencecompassiongracenato endureto bear

half.

Hafu

mixed-blood-child

doubleinternational child.

any

Nina

Nina Li Coomes is a Japanese and American writer, currently living in Chicago, IL. Her writing has appeared in EATER, The  Collapsar, and  RHINO Poetry among other places. Her debut chapbook haircut poems was published by Dancing Girl Press in 2017.