Pluralist universalism : an Asian Americanist critique of U.S. and Chinese multiculturalisms / Wen Jin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jin, Wen, 1977-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yan, Geling.

Zhang, Chengzhi, 1948-.

Multiculturalism in literature.

Cultural pluralism in literature.

Ethnic relations in literature.

Cultural pluralism--China.

Cultural pluralism.

Cultural pluralism--United States.

Criticism and interpretation.

Multiculturalism.

United States.

Multiculturalism--China.

Multiculturalism--United States.

China--Ethnic relations.

China.

Ethnic relations.

United States--Ethnic relations.

Kuo, Alexander (Alexander W.)--Criticism and interpretation.

Kuo, Alexander.

Zhang, Chengzhi, 1948---Criticism and interpretation.

Zhang, Chengzhi.

Alameddine, Rabih--Criticism and interpretation.

Alameddine, Rabih.

Yan, Geling--Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xvii, 224 pages ; 18 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbus : Ohio State University Press, [2012]

Summary:

Pluralist Universalism: An Asian Americanist Critique of U.S. and Chinese Multiculturalisms by Wen Jin is an extended comparison of U.S. and Chinese multiculturalisms during the post-Cold War era. Her book situates itself at the intersection of Asian American literary critique and the growing field of comparative multiculturalism. Through readings of fictional narratives that address the issue of racial and ethnic difference in both national contexts simultaneously, the author models a "double critique" framework for U.S.-Chinese comparative literary studies.

The book approaches U.S. liberal multiculturalism and Chinas ethnic policy as two competing multiculturalisms, one grounded primarily in a history of racial desegregation "and the other in the legacies of a socialist revolution. Since the" end of the Cold War, the two multiculturalisms have increasingly been brought into contact through translation and other forms of mediation. Pluralist Universalism demonstrates that a number of fictional narratives, including those commonly classified as Chinese, American, and Chinese American, have illuminated incongruities and connections between the ethno-racial politics of the two nations.

The "double critique" framework builds upon critical perspectives developed in Asian American studies and adjacent fields. The book brings to life an innovative vision- of Asian American literary critique, even as it offers a unique intervention in ideas of ethnicity and face prevailing in both China and the United States in the post-Cold War era. Book jacket.

Contents:

Bridging the chasm : a survey of U.S. and Chinese multiculturalisms

How not to be an empire : on conciliatory multiculturalism

Toward a comparative critique : metaphor and dissenting nationalism in Alex Kuo

A new politics of faith : Zhang Chengzhi's Xinling shi and Rabih Alameddine's Koolaids: the art of war

Impersonal intimacy : Yan Geling's Fusang and its English translation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780814211878

0814211879

9780814292884

0814292887

OCLC:

760293779