Words Matter: Conversations with Asian American Writers

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2000

Words Matter

Conversations with Asian American Writers

Edited by: King-Kok Cheung

Volume 34 in the series Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824865641

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this age of rapid transition, Asian American studies and American studies in general are being reconfigured to reflect global migrations and the diverse populations of the United States. Asian American literature, in particular, has embodied the crisis of identity that is at the heart of larger academic and political debates surrounding diversity and the inclusion and exclusion of immigrant and refugee groups. These issues underlie the very principles on which literature, culture, and art are produced, preserved, taught, and critiqued.

Words Matter is the first collection of interviews with 20th-century Asian American writers. The conversations that have been gathered here—interviews with twenty writers possessing unique backgrounds, perspectives, thematic concerns, and artistic priorities—effectively dispel any easy categorizations of people of Asian descent. These writers comment on their own work and speak frankly about aesthetics, politics, and the challenges they have encountered in pursuing a writing career. They address, among other issues, the expectations attached to the label "Asian American," the burden of representation shouldered by ethnic artists, and the different demands of "mainstream" and ethnic audiences.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction King - Kok Cheung Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
“Where do we live now—here or there?”
1. Interview by Emily Porcincula Lawsin Jessica Hagedorn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
2.Interview by King-Kok Cheung Paul Stephen Lim Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
3. Interview by Rahpee Thongthiraj S. P. Somtow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
4. Interview by Zainab Ali and Dharini Rasiah Meena Alexander Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
5. Interview by James Kyung-Jin Lee Myung Mi Kim Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
6.Interview by Khanh Ho Le Ly Hayslip Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
“We came into the circle of recovery”
7. Interview by Grace Kyungwon Hong Janice Mirikitani Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
8. Interview by Dharini Rasiah Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
9. Interview by Darlene Rodrigues Al Robles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
10.Interview by Robert B. Ito Philip Kan Gotanda Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
“It’s like putting us in the Chinese laundries”
11. Interview by Stacey Yukari Hirose David Wong Louie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
12. Interview by Rachel Lee Gish Jen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
13. Interview by Robert B. Ito Russell Leong Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
14. Interview by Scott Kurashige Amy Uyematsu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	252
15.Interview by James Kyung-Jin Lee Li-Young Lee Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	270
“I’m on the side of literature”
16. Interview by Nancy Yoo and Tamara Ho Wendy Law-Yone Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
17. Interview by Brenda Kwon Gary Pak Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
18. Interview by Michael S. Murashige Karen Tei Yamashita Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	320
19. Interview by King-Kok Cheung Hisaye Yamamoto and Wakako Yamauchi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	383
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	387

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 408

eBook

Published: February 1, 2000
ISBN: 9780824865641