An ethics of betrayal : the politics of otherness in emergent U.S. literatures and culture / Crystal Parikh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parikh, Crystal.

Series:

American Literatures Initiative

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--Minority authors--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

American literature.

Betrayal in literature.

Ethics in literature.

Comparative literature.

Race relations in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 242 p. )

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Fordham University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

In An Ethics of Betrayal, Crystal Parikh investigates the theme and tropes of betrayal and treason in Asian American and Chicano/Latino literary and cultural narratives. In considering betrayal from an ethical perspective, one grounded in the theories of Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, Parikh argues that the minority subject is obligated in a primary, preontological, and irrecusable relation of responsibility to the Other. Episodes of betrayal and treason allegorize the position of this subject, beholden to the many others who embody the alterity of existence and whose demands upon the subject result in transgressions of intimacy and loyalty. In this first major comparative study of narratives by and about Asian Americans and Latinos, Parikh considers writings by Frank Chin, Gish Jen, Chang-rae Lee, Eric Liu, Américo Parades, and Richard Rodriguez, as well as narratives about the persecution of Wen Ho Lee and the rescue and return of Elian González. By addressing the conflicts at the heart of filiality, the public dimensions of language in the constitution of minority "community," and the mercenary mobilizations of "model minority" status, An Ethics of Betrayal seriously engages the challenges of conducting ethnic and critical race studies based on the uncompromising and unromantic ideas of justice, reciprocity, and ethical society.

Contents:

Introduction: an ethics of betrayal

Late arrivals: an ethics of betrayal in racial and national formation

Accidents and obligations: minority neoconservatives and U.S. racial discourse

Ethnic America undercover: the intellectual and minority discourse

The passion: the betrayals of Elian Gonzalez and Wen Ho Lee

Epilogue: the traitors in our midst.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [219]-235) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612699009

9780823235070

0823235076

9780823247158

0823247155

9781282699007

1282699008

9780823237326

082323732X

9780823230440

0823230449

OCLC:

647876525