Orientations: Mapping Studies in the Asian Diaspora

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 339 pages
• Published by: Duke University Press July 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0822327392
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0822327394
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Review
"[W]ill prove valuable not only to those in the two fields directly addressed but also to anyone interested in the theoretical and practical difficulties (and possibilities) of crossing discipline boundaries. . . . This volume is significant because it is the first to address the fraught linkages and disconnections between Asian studies and Asian American studies. Its strength lies in the range of scholars it brings together: from heavyweight senior scholars . . . to more junior scholars. . . from Asian Americanists trained in traditional disciplines, Ethnic studies and/or Asian studies, to Asian studies specialists working in or between Asian studies, Asian American studies, and traditional fields; and from those based in the United States to those based abroad."
--Dorothy Wang, Journal of Asian American Studies

"Orientations is the latest of a number of exciting studies to identify current themes and to consolidate three decades of academic scholarship and discourse in Asian American studies. . . . [T]here is much talent and versatility in the research of the mostly Asian American authors, who range from new scholars to established academics and who hail from various academic disciplines, including history, English, law, anthropology, ethnic studies, comparative literature, theatre, dance, and Asian American studies. A strong introduction by the two editors provides a conceptual framework to the volume. . . ."
--Jennifer W. Jay, Canadian Literature

"[Chuh and Shimakawa] inaugurate a series of questions and avenues of inquiry that will undoubtedly reshape how projects are envisioned in Asian Studies, Asian American Studies, and American Studies and will resonate with the best work coming from these fields. Their project is ambitious and wide-reaching, and the stakes of their projects are correspondingly high."
--Grace Kyungwon Hong, Diaspora

Product Description
Asian and Asian American studies emerged, respectively, from Cold War and social protest ideologies. Yet, in the context of contemporary globalization, can these ideological distinctions remain in place? Suggesting new directions for studies of the Asian diaspora, the prominent scholars who contribute to this volume raise important questions about the genealogies of these fields, their mutual imbrication, and their relationship to other disciplinary formations, including American and ethnic studies.
With its recurrent themes of transnationalism, globalization, and postcoloniality, Orientations considers various embodiments of the Asian diaspora, including a rumination on minority discourses and performance studies, and a historical look at the journal Amerasia. Exploring the translation of knowledge from one community to another, other contributions consider such issues as Filipino immigrants’ strategies for enacting Asian American subjectivity and the link between area studies and the journal Subaltern Studies. In a section that focuses on how disciplines—or borders—form, one essay discusses “orientalist melancholy,” while another focuses on the construction of the Asian American persona during the Cold War. Other topics in the volume include the role Asian immigrants play in U.S. racial politics, Japanese American identity in postwar Japan, Asian American theater, and the effects of Asian and Asian American studies on constructions of American identity.

Contributors. Dipesh Chakrabarty, Kuan-Hsing Chen, Rey Chow, Kandice Chuh, Sharon Hom, Yoshikuni Igarashi, Dorinne Kondo, Russell Leong, George Lipsitz, Lisa Lowe, Martin F. Manalansan IV, David Palumbo-Liu, R. Radhakrishnan, Karen Shimakawa, Sau-ling C. Wong


Reader Reviews
This review is from: Orientations: Mapping Studies in the Asian Diaspora (Hardcover) I read this book trying to understand why so many people were trying to get out of Asian countries. I came away only understanding that the authors felt that they weren't treated like royalty in the west when they arrived. But why were they leaving in such huge numbers in the first place? What is so wrong in Asian culture that so many people want out? In America they make more money than everybody else. This book doesn't look at any difficult questions. It left me thinking that it was somewhat like a Chinese dinner. Seemingly there's a lot there but after about ten minutes you're hungry again.