Betrayal and other acts of subversion : feminism, sexual politics, Asian American women's literature / Leslie Bow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bow, Leslie, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

American literature.

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

Feminism and literature--United States.

Feminism and literature.

Women and literature--United States.

Women and literature.

Asian American women in literature.

Asian Americans in literature.

Sex role in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (223 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Asian American women have long dealt with charges of betrayal within and beyond their communities. Images of their "disloyalty" pervade American culture, from the daughter who is branded a traitor to family for adopting American ways, to the war bride who immigrates in defiance of her countrymen, to a figure such as Yoko Ono, accused of breaking up the Beatles with her "seduction" of John Lennon. Leslie Bow here explores how representations of females transgressing the social order play out in literature by Asian American women. Questions of ethnic belonging, sexuality, identification, and political allegiance are among the issues raised by such writers as Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Bharati Mukherjee, Jade Snow Wong, Amy Tan, Sky Lee, Le Ly Hayslip, Wendy Law-Yone, Fiona Cheong, and Nellie Wong. Beginning with the notion that feminist and Asian American identity are mutually exclusive, Bow analyzes how women serve as boundary markers between ethnic or national collectives in order to reveal the male-based nature of social cohesion. In exploring the relationship between femininity and citizenship, liberal feminism and American racial discourse, and women's domestic abuse and human rights, the author suggests that Asian American women not only mediate sexuality's construction as a determiner of loyalty but also manipulate that construction as a tool of political persuasion in their writing. The language of betrayal, she argues, offers a potent rhetorical means of signaling how belonging is policed by individuals and by the state. Bow's bold analysis exposes the stakes behind maintaining ethnic, feminist, and national alliances, particularly for women who claim multiple loyalties.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Theorizing Gendered Constructions Of Ethnic And National Collectivity

2. To Enjoy Being A Girl: Sexuality And Partial Citizenship

3. The Triumph Of The Prefeminist Chinese Woman?: Incorporating Racial Difference Through Feminist Narrative

4. Third World Testimony In The Era Of Globalization: Le Ly Hayslip's Bad (Girl) Karma And The Art Of Neutrality

5. The Gendered Subject Of Human Rights: Domestic Infidelity In Irrawaddy Tango And The Scent Of The Gods

Afterword: Multiplying Loyalties

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-207) and index.

ISBN:

9786613290649

9781400815258

1400815258

9781400824144

1400824141

9781283290647

1283290642

9781400814039

1400814030

OCLC:

756502290