Encounters People of Asian Descent in the Americas

by Rustomji-Kerns, Roshni; Srikanth, Rajini; Strobel, Leny Mendoza

• ISBN13: 9780847691449
• ISBN10: 0847691446
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

People of Asian descent have lived for centuries in North and South America, where they have been actively involved in the creation of multicultural, multiethnic societies. This groundbreaking anthology explores their experiences among ethnic and cultural groups in a unique collection of works by and about Asian Americans. Utilizing a rich blend of analytical, autobiographical, biographical and narrative essays, oral histories, fiction, photography, and artwork, the anthology focuses especially on the interactions of Asians with others outside the dominant culture.

Author Biography

Roshni Rustomji-Kerns is professor emerita at Sonoma State University and a visiting scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies, Bolivar House, at Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Karen Tei Yamashita
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction	1	(12)
Part I In Search of My Ombligo---Locating the Family
China in Mexico: Yesterday's Encounter and Today's Discovery	13	(6)
Monica Cinco Basurto
Con Tacto	19	(5)
Kay Reiko Torres
Sophie's Conflicts	24	(11)
Usha Welaratna
The Boy under the Bridge	35	(6)
Kathryne Jeun Cho
In Search of My Ombligo	41	(6)
Stephanie Li
Aly Remtulla, We Sail across Memories	47	(2)
Lessons from the Field: Being Chinese American in Panama	49	(7)
Lok. C. D. Siu
La Busquedad de la Identidad---In Search of My Identity	56	(2)
Tomoyo Hiroishi
American Dreams: An Original Play	58	(17)
Velina Hasu Houston
A Portrait of the Poet: Small-kid Time	75	(4)
R. Zamora Linmark
Where Are You Now?	79	(7)
Thomas Sze Leong Yu
The President's Palace	86	(8)
Dianne Monroe
Nguyet Lam
Dreaming All the Way Home	94	(11)
Leny Mendoza Strobel
Part II The Politics of Cool---Locating a Community
Race Construction and Race Relations: Chinese and Blacks in Nineteenth-Century Cuba	105	(8)
Evelyn Hu-DeHart
Japanese Peruvians and Their Ethnic Encounters	113	(6)
Ayumi Takenaka
The Great Day for Arlen	119	(2)
Armando Siu Lau
Land, Culture, and the Power of Money: Assimilation and Resistance of Okinawan Immigrants in Bolivia	121	(10)
Kozy K. Amemiya
Spanish	131	(2)
Jussawalla Feroza
Chattanooga Days	133	(10)
Jay Chaudhuri
On Ice Cube's ``Black Korea''	143	(20)
Jeff Chang
Trial and Error: Representations of a Recent Past	163	(14)
Laura Hall
The Politics of ``Cool'': Indian American Youth Culture in New York City	177	(17)
Sunaina Maira
The Story of Double R	194	(11)
Janet Shirley
Luis Nishizawa: Portrait of a Nisei Artist	205	(4)
Ofelia Murrieta
Ethnic Preferences: Positive Minority Status of Japanese Brazilians and Their Ethnic Encounters with Other Minority Groups in Brazil	209	(14)
Takeyuki Tsuda
Phuri Sherpa: Nepal and Mexico in California	223	(6)
Monica J. Rainwater
Part III Volcan de Izalco, amen---Locating the Body and the Land
Notes for a Poem on Being Asian American	229	(2)
Dwight Okita
Santos y Sombras---Saints and Shadows	231	(6)
Muriel H. Hasbun
never look down in Chinatown	237	(2)
Ann Suni Shin
Race Markers Transgressors: Mapping a Racial Kaleidoscope within an (Im)migrant Landscape	239	(16)
Naheed Islam
Upon Hearing Beverly Glen Copeland and ``Paki Go Home''	255	(3)
Himani Bannerji
Soho, Southhall, Brixton: Chinatown in New York	258	(5)
Jan Lo Shinebourne
Archipelago	263	(3)
Raissa Nina Burns
De Oro	266	(2)
Bill Woo
Queen Mariachi	268	(6)
Gabriela Kinuyo Torres
The Valley of the Dead Air	274	(9)
Gary Pak
Self-portrait Dressed in a Mexican Costume	283	(2)
Tomoyo Hiroishi
La Nina del Rebozo---The Young Girl in a Shawl	285	(1)
Luis Nishizawa
Her Body: A Stage, An Altar: The Performance Art of Astrid Hadad	286	(4)
Astrid Hadad
Hotel Room (Mayaro, Trinidad)	290	(5)
Rienzi Crusz
Ganesh	295	(2)
Feroza Jussawalla
When Nana Died	297	(3)
Eileen Tabios
About the Editors	300