Banana Bending: Asian-australian And Asian-canadian Literatures

anana Sam TSEEN-LING KHOO ASIANAUSTRALIAN AND ASIANCANADIAN LITERATURES Banana Bending We thank Xu Bmg for writing Hong Kong University Press in his Square Word Calligraphy for the cover of this book For further explanation, see p iv To my parents Ban Siang and Audrey Swee-kuan Khoo, for their constant love and encouragement, and for what they don't say as much as what they do. Banana Bending ASIAN-AUSTRALIAN AND ASIAN-CANADIAN LITERATURES TSEEN-LING KHOO * & *. * ta vs. it H O N G KONG U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S Hong Kong University Press 14/F HingWai Centre 7 Tin Wan Praya Road Aberdeen Hong Kong www.hkupress.org (secure on-line ordering) © Hong Kong University Press 2003 ISBN 962 209 630 1 All rights reserved No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher British Library Catalogumg-in-Pubhcation Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Pnnted and bound by Kings Time Pnnting Press Ltd , Hong Kong, China Hong Kong University Press is honoured that Xu Bing, whose art explores the complex themes of language across cultures, has wntten the Press's name in his Square Word Calligraphy This signals our commitment to cross-cultural thinking and the distinctive nature of our English-language books published in China "At first glance, Square Word Calligraphy appears to be nothing more unusual than Chinese characters, but in fact it is a new way of rendering English words in the format of a square so they resemble Chinese characters Chinese viewers expect to be able to read Square Word Calligraphy but cannot Western viewers, however are surprised to find they can read it Delight erupts when meaning is unexpectedly revealed " — Britta Enckson, The Art ofXu Bmg Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1 "A Chink in the Armour": Asian-Austrahan Space 2 "Spitting in the Soup". Asian-Canadian Space 3 Colouring In - Possibilities of Nationalism in Diaspora 4 "At H o m e in Your Embarrassment": Boundaries of Community and Ethnicity 5 Patriotism, War, and Other National Desires Asian Masculinities in Progress 6 Emerging Extravagance in Diasporic Asian Women's Writin Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgements I drafted the bulk of this book at the University of Queensland English Department, and completed the manuscript while with the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies at the same university During these years, I have been lucky to have the company of enthusiastic and motivating colleagues from a range of institutions who have encouraged and ushered me through key stages of my career, including David Carter, Helen Gilbert, Sneja Gunew, Alan Lawson, Jacqueline Lo, Kam Louie, Wenche Ommundsen, and Joanne Tompkins For their trans-Pacific generosity, intellect, and humour, I would hke to thank Guy Beauregard, Lily Cho, Hiromi Goto, Karlyn Koh, Lanssa Lai, Ashok Mathur, Roy Miki, Dorothy Wang, and Rita Wong Much appreciation to Austin Cooke for resources and weather updates To my fellow travellers in 'Asian-Australian studies', thank you for the faith, hope, and chanty I am especially grateful to Dean Chan, Olivia Khoo, Minam Lo, Robyn Morns, and Peta Stephenson, and to Natasha Cho and Jen Tsen Kwok for their energising perspectives Many thanks to the Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand (ACSANZ) who funded travel to Canada for parts of this book's research Different versions of some se