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Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1999. — 205 p.
<em>Contents: Fraternal Devotions: Carlos Bulosan and the Sexual Politics of America. Gish Jen and the Gendered Codes of Americanness. Transversing Nationalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Jessica Hagedorn’s <em>Dogeaters. Global-Local Discourse and Gendered Screen Fictions in Karen Tei Yamashita’s <em>Through the Arc of the Rain Forest Asian American Feminist Literary Criticism on Multiple Terrains.The work is done at the crossroads of three disciplinary fields — Asian American Studies, American literature, and studies in gender and sexuality. In addition to being a literary analysis of four Asian American novels, this book scrutinizes the ideologies that make possible and favor certain types of readings, by limning which political interests are served when certain narratives and not others are deemed appropriate to the ethnopolitical stakes of Asian American writing. The author argues that interpreting Asian American literature in accordance with ethnic-based political commitments often constrains the intelligibility of stories focused on kinship, family dynamics, eroticism, and gender roles.
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The Americas of Asian American Literature
The Americas of Asian American Literature GENDERED FICTIONS OF NA TION AND TRANSNA TION Rachel C. Lee
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright 1999 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved Excerpts from America Is in the Heart: A Personal History by Carlos Bulosan, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company. Excerpts from Typical American copyright 1991 by Gish Jen. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lee, Rachel C.,1966– The Americas of Asian American literature: gendered fictions of nation and transnation/ Rachel C. Lee. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–691–05960–8 (alk. paper). — ISBN 0–691–05961–6 (pbk. alk. paper) 1. American fiction—Asian American authors—History and criticism. 2. Feminism and literature—United States—History—20th century. 3. Women and literature—United States—History—20th century. 4. National characteristics, American, in literature. 5. Yamashita, Karen Tei, 1951– Through the arc of the rain forest. 6. Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata, 1949– Dogeaters. 7. Bulosan, Carlos—Political and social views. 8. Jen, Gish—Political and social views. 9. Asian Americans in literature. 10. Gender identity in literature. 11. Sex role in literature. I. Title. PS153.A84L44 1999 810.9'895—dc21 99–14575 CIP This book has been composed in Janson The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper) http://pup.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (Pbk.)
Contents
Preface INTRODUCTION
vii 3
CHAPTER ONE Fraternal Devotions: Carlos Bulosan and the Sexual Politics of America
17
CHAPTER TWO Gish Jen and the Gendered Codes of Americanness
44
CHAPTER THREE Transversing Nationalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters
73
CHAPTER FOUR Global-Local Discourse and Gendered Screen Fictions in Karen Tei Yamashita’s Through the Arc of the Rain Forest
106
CONCLUSION Asian American Feminist Literary Criticism on Multiple Terrains
139
APPENDIX ONE Number of Plots in Dogeaters
147
APPENDIX TWO Epigraphs and Other Quoted Material in Dogeaters
14