East-West montage : reflections on Asian bodies in diaspora / Sheng-mei Ma.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ma, Sheng-mei.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Asian diaspora.

East and West.

Motion pictures--Asia.

Motion pictures.

Asia.

American literature--Asian American authors--History and criticism.

American literature.

American literature--Asian American authors.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 302 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, [2007]

Summary:

Approximately twelve hours' difference lies between New York and Beijing: The West and the East are, literally, night and day apart. Yet East-West Montage cross-cuts the two in the manner of adjacent filmic shots to accentuate their montage-like complementarity. It examines the intersection between East and West-the Asian diaspora (or more specifically the Asian body in diaspora) and the cultural expressions by and about people of Asian descent on both sides of the Pacific.

Following the introduction, "Establishing Shots," the book is divided into seven intercuts, which in turn subdivide into dialectically paired chapters focusing on specific body parts or attributes. The range of material examined is broad and rich: the iconography of the opium den in film noir, the writings of Asian American novelists, the swordplay and kung fu film, the "Korean Wave" (including soap operas like Autumn Sonata and the cult thriller Oldboy), Rogers and Hammerstein's Orientalist musicals, the comic Blackhawk, the superstar status of the Dalai Lama, and the fate of Hmong refugees and Chinese retirees in the U.S.

Contents:

Establishing Shots xi

Intercut on Asian Anus

1 Anal Apocalypse: On the W/Hole of Asia and the Christian West 3

2 Camp Scatology: A Comparative Study of Body (as) Waste in Japanese American Literature 22

Intercut on Asian Penis

3 Brush and Blade in East-West Cultures: Global Phallus, Colonial Acephalus 39

4 Kung Fu Films in Diaspora: Death of Bamboo Hero 60

Intercut on Asian Dubbing

5 De/Alienation in Diasporic Dubbing/Rubbing of Maoist China 79

6 Anime's Atom Dialectic: From Trauma to Manna 97

Intercut on the Korean Wave

7 The O of Han Ju: Those Full, (Over) Painted Lips that Dare to Confess 113

8 Tradition and/of Bastards in the Korean Wave 128

Intercut on Body Oriental

9 Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Chopsticks" Musicals 143

10 The Nine Lives of Blackhawk's Oriental: Chop Chop, Wu Cheng, and Weng Chan 157

Intercut on Asian Magic

11 Asian Immigrants with "Magical" Disabilities: Oriental Tongues and Bound Feet 189

12 Dalai Lama Superstar: Mystery and Politics in Western Films and Narratives on Tibet 202

Intercut on Asian Deceased

13 Hmong Refugee's Death Fugue 217

14 The Fad(k)ing of the 0.5 Generation: On Taiwanese and Chinese Retirees in the United States 238.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-293) and index.

ISBN:

9780824831813

0824831810

OCLC:

124538631