AAS 1100: Introduction to Asian American Studies (Spring 2020): Printed Primary Sources

Relative Histories focuses on the Asian American memoir that specifically recounts the story of at least three generations of the same family. This form of auto/biography concentrates as much on other members of one's family as on oneself, generally collapses the boundaries conventionally established between biography and autobiography, and in many cases--as Rocío G. Davis proposes for the auto/biographies of ethnic writers--crosses the frontier into history, promoting collective memory.

Duong Van Mai Elliott's The Sacred Willow, an extraordinary narrative woven from the lives of four generations of her family, illuminates fascinating--and until now unexplored--strands of Vietnamese history. Beginning with her great-grandfather, who rose from rural poverty to become an influential mandarin, and continuing to the present, Mai Elliott traces her family's journey through an era of tumultuous change. She tells us of childhood hours in her grandmother's silk shop--and of hiding while Frenchtroops torched her village, watching blossoms torn by fire from the trees flutter "like hundreds of butterflies" overhead. She reveals the agonizing choices that split Vietnamese families: her eldest sister left her staunchly anti-communist home to join the Viet Minh, and spent months sleeping withher infant son in jungle camps, fearing air raids by day and tigers by night. And she follows several family members through the last, desperate hours of the fall of Saigon--including one nephew who tried to escape by grabbing the skid of a departing American helicopter. Based on family papers, dozens of interviews, and a wealth of other research, this is not only a memorable family saga, but a record of how the Vietnamese themselves have experienced their times. At times haunting, at times heartbreaking--it is always mesmerizing--The Sacred Willow will foreverchange how we view the history of Vietnam and our own role in it.

This is a powerful, moving, at times shocking account of three generations of Chinese women, as compelling as Amy Tan. --Mary Morris. An evocative, often astonishing view of life in a changing China. -- The New York Times

'I am more American than Korean in my mind, but I am more Korean than American in my soul.' In this poignant, bittersweet family memoir, K. Connie Kang tells the story of one of America's most recent, and successful, immigrant groups: the Korean-Americans.The author's tale is one of hardship, as wars twice force her family to flee their homes in Korea. It is also a story of heartbreak, as her new life in America, first as a student and then as a reporter, irreversibly separates her from her parents and their values. Ultimately, hers is a story of the lure of American freedom, andthe wisdom offered up by a lifelong struggle to reconcile two vastly different cultures.Connie Kang, who came to the United States in 1961, interweaves her family's story with Korea's tempestuous recent history. Her grandfather, Myong-Hwan Kang, a nationalist organizer during the period of Japanese colonialism, is arrested and tortured for his activities. Only a few years after the victory over Japan, war breaks out with the Communists in the North. Connie and her mother escape on an all-night ride on top of a railroad car, and arrive as refugees in Pusam. Eventually they rejoin Connie's father in Tokyo, and then Okinawa.As a college student in America, the author meets other Korean students, and for the first time grapples with the question of her Korean identity. Though she is drawn to the personal freedom in America, her emotional ties to her family and country are equally strong, setting the stage for a conflict of identities which has yet to cease. She becomes one of the first Korean-American journalists in the U.S., but still her family breaks up her intended marriage to an American. When she tries living and working in Korea, she finds the role of women too restricted. Finally she decides to settle in America. Now, as a reporter, she covers the Asian-American communities around Los Angeles, helping to bring to light the issues that affect recent immigrants like herself.In a warm, sympathetic voice that is refreshingly candid but never sentimental, K. Connie Kang has writtenthe book on the Korean-American experience. It is a story that will touch us all.

Passionate, fierce, and lyrical, Meena Alexander's memoir traces her evolution as a postcolonial writer from a privileged childhood in India to a turbulent adolescence in the Sudan and then to England and New York City. In this tenth-anniversary edition ofFault Lines, this Alexander challenges the assumptions of life as a South Asian American woman writer in a post-9-11 world. With poetic insight and an honesty that will galvanize readers--both familiar and new--Alexander reveals her difficult recovery from a long-buried childhood trauma that revolutionizes the entire landscape of her memory: of her family, of her writing process and the meaning of memoir, and of her very self, now and before.

This collection of core primary texts draws from a wide range of fields, from law to visual culture to politics, covering key historical and cultural developments that enable students to engage directly with the Asian American experience over the past century.

Presents a carefully selected group of readings that requires students to evaluate primary sources, test the interpretations of distinguished historians, and draw their own conclusions.

This collection of key documents presents the rich Asian American heritage through primary sources -- speeches, diary entries, editorials, advertisements, court opinions, legislation, songs, and poems -- along with expert, concise editorial commentary.

Drawing from a broad range of articles, speeches, short stories, pamphlets, sermons, debates, laws, public statements, Supreme Court decisions and conventions, this documentary history demonstrates the persistence of a humanist, if not an anti-racist, pulse in American society in the face of discriminatory government policy and prevalent anti-Asian ideology and treatment. Focusing on support for the rights of Japanese and Chinese immigrants and their descendants, the book traces a 130-year period, culminating with the governmental redress for survivors of the Japanese evacuation and internment during WWII.

This diverse collection, like Asian America itself, adds up to something far more vibrant than the sum of its voices. -Eric Liu, author of The Accidental Asian There's fury, dignity, and self-awareness in these essays. I found the voices to be energetic and the ideas exciting. -Diana Son, playwright (Stop Kiss) and co-producer (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) This refreshing and timely collection of coming-of-age essays, edited and written by young Asian Americans, powerfully captures the joys and struggles of their evolving identities as one of the fastest-growing groups in the nation and poignantly depicts the many oft-conflicting ties they feel to both American and Asian cultures. The essays also highlight the vast cultural diversity within the category of Asian American, yet ultimately reveal how these young people are truly American in their ideals and dreams. Asian American X is more than a book on identity; it is required reading both for young Asian Americans who seek to understand themselves and their social group, and for all who are interested in keeping abreast of the changing American social terrain.

In this collection of fascinating interviews with Asian Americans, Lee draws upon her skill and sensitivity as a journalist to reveal a rich mosaic of Asian identities.'