Martin Xu
Ms. Oberfield
6QHA
March 14, 2016
One Weird Trick to Identifying Asian American Literature
The term “Asian American” itself is a conflict, a clash of culture. Asia and America are as separated as two regions can be; even Europe and Asia share the same landmass. Asian American (AA) experiences are all about adapting to new cultures and environments, and Asian American Literature (AAL) reflects that struggle. Therefore, if an average white person writes a story about an AA, it is not AAL, as the white person would not have experienced the transition between Asian and American culture. However, AAL isn’t limited to genetically Asian people; a story by a white person could be AAL if that person had experienced the culture change. AA experience …show more content…
The whole economy of the town is based on displaying white history. Nevertheless, Razia tries to adapt to Salem, and she compares everything she sees to things at home in an attempt to get used to her new environment. She tries to make sense of the all-American Harley bikers, and she notices, “if I took away their motorcycles and muscles, they looked just like my bearded Muslim uncles in Queens” (Rehman 19). When “they all looked at [her] gently” (25), she thinks, “suddenly, I felt so homesick for Queens, where men others thought were scary used to be the men who took care of me” (25). She gradually connects the tough-looking bikers to the similarly tough-looking guys that took care of her at home. Thus, she feels less scared about the bikers, and feels more at home, and the bikers welcome her by the end. Razia is able to conquer her fears, and makes new …show more content…
He states that “For a long time I vowed I wouldn’t fall into writing ethnic stories, immigrant stories, etc. Then I realised that not only was I working against these expectations (market, self, literary, cultural), I was working against my kneejerk resistance to such expectations” (Le 2). Le’s definition of AAL seems to be stories about immigrants and people of Asian ethnicity; he embraces this after trying to avoid it because it is stereotypical. I think that the ethnic stories and the immigrant stories he talks about are AAL because of the culture struggle, therefore fitting my definition. What differentiates AAL from other immigrant stories is the fact that the struggle is between Asian culture and American culture. Asian culture has its own unique characteristics, and so the struggle is different. Asian culture in general seems to put more emphasis on family and education than other cultures, which value individualism and creativity more. This clash of polar opposites makes AAL
Ms. Oberfield
6QHA
March 14, 2016
One Weird Trick to Identifying Asian American Literature
The term “Asian American” itself is a conflict, a clash of culture. Asia and America are as separated as two regions can be; even Europe and Asia share the same landmass. Asian American (AA) experiences are all about adapting to new cultures and environments, and Asian American Literature (AAL) reflects that struggle. Therefore, if an average white person writes a story about an AA, it is not AAL, as the white person would not have experienced the transition between Asian and American culture. However, AAL isn’t limited to genetically Asian people; a story by a white person could be AAL if that person had experienced the culture change. AA experience …show more content…
The whole economy of the town is based on displaying white history. Nevertheless, Razia tries to adapt to Salem, and she compares everything she sees to things at home in an attempt to get used to her new environment. She tries to make sense of the all-American Harley bikers, and she notices, “if I took away their motorcycles and muscles, they looked just like my bearded Muslim uncles in Queens” (Rehman 19). When “they all looked at [her] gently” (25), she thinks, “suddenly, I felt so homesick for Queens, where men others thought were scary used to be the men who took care of me” (25). She gradually connects the tough-looking bikers to the similarly tough-looking guys that took care of her at home. Thus, she feels less scared about the bikers, and feels more at home, and the bikers welcome her by the end. Razia is able to conquer her fears, and makes new …show more content…
He states that “For a long time I vowed I wouldn’t fall into writing ethnic stories, immigrant stories, etc. Then I realised that not only was I working against these expectations (market, self, literary, cultural), I was working against my kneejerk resistance to such expectations” (Le 2). Le’s definition of AAL seems to be stories about immigrants and people of Asian ethnicity; he embraces this after trying to avoid it because it is stereotypical. I think that the ethnic stories and the immigrant stories he talks about are AAL because of the culture struggle, therefore fitting my definition. What differentiates AAL from other immigrant stories is the fact that the struggle is between Asian culture and American culture. Asian culture has its own unique characteristics, and so the struggle is different. Asian culture in general seems to put more emphasis on family and education than other cultures, which value individualism and creativity more. This clash of polar opposites makes AAL