Asian
Studies 310 (Upper Division GE)*
*P. 89 of the SDSU General
Catalogue 2006-2007 classifies this class under... area "B" Social and
Behavioral Sciences (and it is listed as a cultural diversity course)
Contemporary
Issues in Asian American Communities
(Aka AS310 Diasporan Communities
of the Asia Pacific)
Fall 2006
Copyright © 2006 Miguel B. Llora. All Rights Reserved.
Lecturer:
Miguel Llora, MA
| General Notes |
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ASIAN 310 - Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities - Fall 2006
ASIAN
310 | 1 | Diaspora
& Asia Pacific | 1230
- 1345 | SH-344 |
I
strongly encourage you to get familiar with BLACKBOARD...
Material
also provided at the Docutek
ERes or Electronic Reserves & Reserves Pages...
Contemporary Issues in Asian American
Communities
Asian
310 - Film Lists (available at the Media Center):
Lecturer's
Collection
Media Center
Collection
San
Diego Asian Film Festival Movies
Course Objectives:
AS310 - Contemporary Issues in Asian American CCommunities is an interdisciplinary course related to the phenomenon of migration and settlement from countries within the Asia Pacific region. The course seeks to deepen our understanding of the ways in which migration; race, racial discrimination, and resistance to racial discrimination have shaped and continue to shape social thought as well as institutions in the United States. The course is focused on understanding Asian migration and settlement into the United States. It is organized around four inter-related themes: migration and labor, racism and resistance, identity and community, as well as migration and globalization.
The
course draws upon literature, film, anthropology, history, and cultural studies
to examine the experiences of Asian Americans living in the US. The course will
cover the colonial background to Asian immigration in the 19th century, 'racism'
and anti-Asian movements in the US, and policies towards Asian Americans during
the Second World War, the emergence of the Asian American movement during the
1960s, and most importantly we will explore how all these issues transition into
contemporary issues in Asian American communities. Through reading critical essays
supplemented viewing documentaries and full length feature films and/or reading
selected novels, short stories, oral histories, we will address issues such as
racial stereotyping, media racism, and identity. The format for this course is
that of a lecture/discussion. It is important that the student complete all readings
prior to the sessions, and participate you should come to each session prepared
with questions and ideas for discussion.
Exams and Assignments:
Your grade for the course will be determined as follows: Paper 1 (25%), Paper 2 (25%), Final Paper (40%), Seminar Presentation and/or Participation (10%)
Paper 1: A four page critical summary of Omi and Winant's Racial Formations in the United States. Part 1 of the essay should be given over to an 'objective' summary of the major arguments and themes contained in the chapter. Part 2 should be devoted to a critical appraisal (e.g. your reaction to and interpretation of the arguments presented by the authors). At the end of Part 2 you are required to raise a minimum of 2 questions stimulated by your summary and critique of this reading. Feel free to draw or compare against other readings from Takaki, Arendt, Dickens, as well as Castles and Miller. 25%
Paper 2: A four page research project that focuses on a single incident or set of incidents related to a particular Asian American community. Explain and analyze both the historical importance and contemporary relevance. In other words, identify the ways in which an historical occurrence impacts upon the present. 25%
Final Paper: A seven-page comparative analysis of Takaki's Strangers from a Different Shore. This essay should focus on at least two of the Asian American populations referred to in the text. Paper needs to include analysis of filmic representation of the groups under consideration. How are the groups identified and represented? How were their experiences similar and different? What were their defining racial and ethnic characteristics of each group as defined by the dominant 'majority'? What factors account for their relative position and status contemporary American society? 40%*
*Breakdown: The 40% is divided into 10% for an outline and 30% for the finished product. To get the full 10%, the outline must include a cover sheet, the outline, and your list of references (in MLA format). The practice of formulating your ideas and argument flow through the outlining of your topics is a time tested technique that I fully endorse and for the final paper require.
Seminar Presentation: Since this a "Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities" class, the presentation will have to be based on a topic. Time permitting; this presentation is a group presentations (using PowerPoint) on a topic mutually agreed upon with the professor. If time does not permit, I will use attendance and class participation instead. 10%
The papers need to be done strictly according to MLA format. It is strongly recommended that students attend individual tutorials with me to discuss and plan their research projects.
Final
Paper Resources:
SDSU
Infodome
Article
Databases
Style
Manuals and Citation Formats
Sample
Citations in MLA Format
Required
Readings:
Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of
Asian Americans. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1998
NOTE: All required readings on the syllabus (aside from Takaki) will be available ONLINE via Blackboard and ECR or HARDCOPY at the SDSU Reserve Book Room.
Grade Scale:
97 to 100
A/A+
94 to 97 A
90 to 94 A-
87 to 90 B+
84 to 87 B
80 to 84 B-
77
to 80 C+
74 to 77 C
70 to 74 C-
67 to 70 D+
64 to 67 D
60 to 64
D-
00 to 60 F
CLASS SCHEDULE & LECTURE OUTLINES
Week
1 - Aug. 29 - 31: Introduction
The course syllabus: philosophy;
approach; expectations and requirements
Course goals and objectives: comparative
analyses of immigration; a re-visioning of history; understanding the contemporary
world
What is Asian American history?
What do you expect from this course?
Reading:
Takaki 3-21
Video:
Stuart Hall: Race - The Floating Signifier (22581)
TV7471V
Stuart Hall: Representation And The Media (23670) TV8583V
Further
Reading:
Chan, Sucheng. Asian Americans - An Interpretive History. Boston:
Twayne Publishers, 1991.
Literature
Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong
Kingston
America Is in the Heart: A Personal History by Carlos Bulosan
The
Gangster of Love by Jessica Hagedorn
Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn
Race: The Floating Signifier
Week
2 - Sept. 5 - 7: Geographies of Asian Immigration
European colonialism
and Asia, western expansion and Asian migrations, Asia in the colonial imagination;
race in 19th century European and American thought, "Manifest Destiny"
and continental empire, and early Asian arrivals in north America.
Reading:
Said, Edward. "Introduction." in Culture and Imperialism.
xi-xxviii. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Arendt, Hannah. "Expansion
and the Nation State." in Chapter 5 - "The Political Emancipation
of the Bourgeoisie." in The Origins of Totalitarianism. 124-134. Cleveland:
Meridian Books, 1969.
Great Expectations - Afterword
Video:
Edward
Said On Orientalism (22580) 1998 TV7470V
Great Expectations (1946) DVD-863
Great
Expectations (1998) (Lecturer's Collection)
Further Reading:
Arendt, Hannah.
The Origins of Totalitarianism. Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1969.
Said,
Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Geographies of Asian Immigration
Week
3 - Sept 12 - 14: Early patterns of Asian Immigration
The United
States as a colonial power: 'Opening' Asia; Asia as Far East or Far West? Understanding
the 'Push-Pull paradigm: conditions in countries of origin; conditions in the
United States; 'rational choice' and immigration; limits of the push-pull paradigm,
Gender and immigration (picture brides), destination countries other than the
United States and Canada, The 'coolie' trade and human trafficking, sojourners
and immigrants: why some stayed and others did not; laborers, political exiles,
intellectuals, aliens and nationals, and commonalities and differences.
Reading:
Takaki 132-147; Castles and Miller 18-42
Video:
Wataridori: Birds Of
Passage (22503) TV7545V
Further Reading:
Castles, Stephen and Miller, Mark.
The Age of Migration: International Populations Movements in the Modern World
2nd Edition. London: The Guilford Press, 1998.
Week
4 - Sept. 19 - 21: Crossing Borders: The United States as a 'Nation of Immigrants'
Immigration
and assimilation; and the vocabulary of immigration, migration and settlement
Reading:
Takaki 132-178; Omi and Winant 57-69
Further Reading:
Omi, Michael
and Winant, Howard. Racial Formation in the United States, 2nd edition.
New York and London: Routledge, 1994.
PAPER 1 - DUE SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
Week
5 - Sept. 26 - 28: Labor, Economic Competition and Cultural Attitudes
Perpetual
Aliens, Samuel Gompers and organized labor, the business perspective, the radical
labor perspective and class interests, missionaries and the paradox of America,
and African Americans and Chinese and Japanese immigrants.
Reading: Takaki
147-162
Video:
Picture Bride (Lecturer's Collection)
Week
6 - Oct. 3 - 5: Seeing Brown and Yellow: "coloring" the landscape of
America
Exploring race in filmic representations in U.S. popular
culture.
Oct. 3
Reading:
Seeing Yellow: Asian Identities in Film and Video by Richard Fung in Aguilar-San
Juan 161-171
In Class Films:
Yellow
Fever and The Cheat (1915) - whole movie!
Oct.
5
Reading: A Genealogy of the "Yellow Peril" in Lye 12-46.
Reading:
Introduction to Romance and the "Yellow Peril" in Marchetti 1-9
In Class Films: Portions of Lady from Chunking (1943), Sayonara (1957), and The
Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)
Videos:
Yellow Fever (Lecturer's
Collection)
Cheat (1915) (Lecturer's Collection)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
(Lecturer's Collection)
The Good Earth (1937) (Lecturer's Collection)
Bombs
over Burma (1942) (Lecturer's Collection)
Lady from Chunking (1943) (Lecturer's
Collection)
The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, 4 Full-Length Episodes (1950s)
(Lecturer's Collection)
The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) (Lecturer's Collection)
Sayonara
(1957) (Lecturer's Collection)
Further Reading:
Aguilar-San Juan,
Karin, Ed. The State of Asian America: Activism and Resistance in the 1990s.
Boston: South End Press, 1994.
Lye, Colleen. America's Asia: Racial Form
and American Lierature, 1893 - 1945. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
2005
Marchetti, Gina. Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex
and Discursive strategies in Hollywood Fiction. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1994.
Media and Popular Culture
Curran, James, and Gurevitch,
Michael. Mass Media and Society. New York: Arnold Publishing, 2000.
Kwok,
Jenny Wah Lau. Multiple Modernities: Cinema and Popular Media in Transnational
Asia. Temple: Temple University Press, 2003.
Lee, Josephine; Lim, Imogene;
and Matsukawa, Yuko. Eds. Re/collecting Early Asian America: Essays in Cultural
History. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002.
Lim, Shirley Jennifer.
A Feeling of Belonging: Asian American Women's Public Culture, 1930-1960.
New York: New York University Press, 2006.
Lye, Colleen. America's Asia:
Racial Form and American Lierature, 1893 - 1945. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2005
Mank, Gregory William. Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Horror Films
from the Genre's Golden Age. London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1995.
Marchetti,
Gina. Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex and Discursive strategies
in Hollywood Fiction. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
Martinez,
Dolores. The World of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries
and Global Cultures. Boston: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Napier,
Susan J. Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary
Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.
Pomerance, Murray.
Ed. Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil and Slime on Screen. New York: State University
of New York Press, 2004.
Wollstein, Hans J., Vixens, Floozies, and Molls:
28 Actresses of Late 1920s and 1930s Hollywood. London: McFarland & Company,
Inc., 1999.
http://www.njedge.net/~knapp/FuManchu.htm
Week
7 - Oct. 10 - 12: Legislating Race and Exclusion
Immigration Laws,
origins and consequences: Nationality Act of 1790; Naturalization Act of 1870;
Burlingame Treaty of 1868; Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; Gentlemen's Agreement
of 1907; Immigration Act of 1917 (Asiatic Barred Zone); Immigration Act of 1924,
War Brides Acts of 1948, Filipino and Indian Naturalization Act of 1946; Immigration
and Nationality Act of 1952. Yellow Peril in the American imagination; imperialism,
race and war; immigrants and the Yellow Peril; the United States as a 'racial'
state.
Reading: Ancheta 19-40
In Class Films: Portions of Crash (2004)
Video:
Crash DVD 1909
Crash (2004) (Lecturer's Collection)
Option B: The
"Crash" project…
Further Reading:
Ancheta, Angelo.
Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience. New Jersey: Rutgers University
Press, 2003.
Legislating Race and Exclusion
Week
8 - Oct. 17 - 19: Model Minorities: Race and Identity in Contemporary Asian America
War,
Colonialism and post 1965 Migration to the United States, New Immigrants from
Southeast Asia, Race in 21st century America, and Affirmative action
Session
1 - Post 1965 (part 1)
Reading: Takaki 406-432
Session 2 - Post 1965
(part 2)
Reading: Takaki 432-448
Video:
Afterbirth (11703) TV5000V
Race:
The Power of Illusion Episode 1 (Race in America) VTC 2904
Race: The Power
of Illusion Episode 2 (Filipinos) VTC 2905
Race: The Power of Illusion Episode
3 (Legislation and Disadvantage) VTC 2906
Communities in Transition
PAPER 2 OR OPTION B: THE CRASH PROJECT - DUE OCTOBER 26, 2006
Week
9 - Oct. 24 - 26: Chinese-Americans
Session 1 - Gam Saan Haak: The
Chinese in Nineteenth-Century America
Reading: Takaki 79-131
Session
2 - Ethnic Islands: The Emergence of Urban Chinese America
Reading: Takaki
230-269
Videos:
The Joy Luck Club no #
Chinese-Americans: Living
in Two Worlds DVD 1916
The Wedding Banquet DVD 919
The Killing of a Chinese
Bookie DVD 993
Becoming American: The Chinese Experience (1) DVD 1759
Becoming
American: The Chinese Experience (2) DVD 1758
Becoming American: The Chinese
Experience (3) DVD 1757
The Year of the Dragon (Lecturer's Collection)
Further
Reading:
Chang, Iris. The Chinese in America. New York: Penguin Books,
2003.
Week
10 - Oct. 31 - Nov. 2: Japanese-Americans
Session 1 - Ethnic Solidarity:
The Settling of Japanese America (part 1)
Reading: Takaki 179-204
Session
2 - Ethnic Solidarity: The Settling of Japanese America (part 2)
Reading:
Takaki 205-229
Video:
From a Different Shore: The Japanese American
Experience no #
Snow Falling on Cedars VTC 1507
Rabbit in the Moon VTC 3163
Come
See the Paradise VTC 3059
Further Reading:
Hasegawa, Susan Shizuko. Rebuilding
Lives, Rebuilding Communities: The Post-World War II Resettlement of Japanese
Americans to San Diego. F869.S22 H297 1998 (see BIBLIOGRAPHY)
Deep Fissures in a Community Tested
Week
11 - Nov. 7 - 9: Korean-Americans
Session 1 - Struggling against
Colonialism: Koreans in America
Reading: Takaki 270-293
Session 2
- Sai-I-Gu
Reading: Takaki 493-497;; Latasha Harlins, Soon Ja Du, and Joyce
Karlin: A Case Study of Multicultural Female Violence and Justice on the Urban
Frontier by Brenda Stevenson
Video:
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing
DVD 779
Sai-I-Gu VTC 2941
Further Reading:
Choy, Bong-youn. Koreans
in America. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979.
Hurh, Won Moo and Kim, Kwang Chung.
Korean Immigrants in America: A Structural Analysis of Ethnic Confinement and
Adhesive Adaptation. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984.
Kim,
Elaine and Yu Eui-Young. East to America: Korean American Life Stories.
New York: The New Press, 1996.
Kim, Hyung-chan, ed. The Korean Diaspora:
Historical and Sociological Studies of Korean Immigration and Assimilation in
North America. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, Inc., 1977.
Kim, Kwang Chung, ed.
Koreans in the Hood: Conflict with African Americans. Baltimore: The John
Hopkins University Press, 1999.
Melendy, H. Brett. Asians in America: Filipinos,
Koreans, and East Indians. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.
Week
12 - NOV. 14 - 16: Filipino-Americans
Session 1 - Dollar a Day,
Dime a Dance: The Forgotten Filipinos (part 1)
Reading: Takaki 315-334
Session
2 - Dollar a Day, Dime a Dance: The Forgotten Filipinos (part 2)
Reading:
Takaki 335-356
Video:
Broken Promises: Filipino American Veterans of
WWII Provided
APL Video Provided
Dollar A Day, Ten Cents A Dance no #
Closer
to Home DVD 1004
Silent Sacrifices DVD 1545
The Debut DVD 678
American
Adobo DVD 2069
Coming To America: Filipino (#5) (14402) TV5292V
In No One's
Shadow: Filipinos in America (12796) TV4963V
Filipino Americans VTC 2069
Further
Reading:
Llora, Miguel. Fractured Communities:
Filipino Americans in San Diego and the Imperial Valley. DS2.2 .L56
2005 (see REFERENCES)
Filipinos in the United States
FINAL PAPER OUTLINE - DUE NOVEMBER 21, 2006
Week
13 - NOV. 21 - 23: Asian Americans and World War II
Session 1 -
The Watershed of World War II: Democracy and Race
Reading: Takaki 357-381
Session
2 - The Watershed of World War II: Democracy and Race
Reading: Takaki 382-405
Video:
Guilty By Reason of Race (16177) TV0208V
American Experience: The Massie
Affair (Lecturer's Collection)
Week
14 - Nov. 28 - 30: Vietnamese American
Session 1 - Pushed by "Necessity":
The Refugees from Southeast Asia
Reading: Takaki 448-463
Session
2 - "Strangers" at the Gates Again: Mein and Hmong in America
Reading:
Takaki 463-471
Video:
Vietnamese Americans: The New Generation DVD
1915
Heaven and Earth DVD 1049
VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HISTORY
1. Roots
of A War (#1) (14053) VH TV3097AV
2. The First Vietnam War, 1946-1954 (#2)
(17625) VH TV3097BV
3. America's Mandarin, 1954-1963 (#3) (14049) VH TV3098AV
4. LBJ Goes To War, 1964-1965 (#4) (14050) VH TV3098BV
5. America Takes
Charge, 1965-1967 (#5) (17623) VH TV3099AV
6. America's Enemy, 1954-1967 (#6)
(14051) VH TV3099BV
7. The Tet Offensive, 1968 (#7) (14047) VH TV3100AV
8.
Vietnamizing the War, 1968-1973 (#8) (17621) VH TV3100BV
9. Cambodia and Laos
(#9) (14048) VH TV3101AV
10. Peace Is At Hand, 1968-1973 (#10) (17622) VH TV3101BV
11.
Homefront USA (#11) (14045) VH TV3102AV
12. The End of the Tunnel, 1973-1975
(#12) (17620) VH TV3102BV
13. Legacies (#13) (18343) VH TV3103V
Further
Readings:
Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam, a History. New York: Penguin Books,
1997.
Bandon, Alexandra. Vietnamese Americans. New York: New Discovery
Books, 1994.
Cargill, Mary Terrell and Huynh, Jade Quang. eds. Voices of
the Vietnamese Boat People: Nineteen Narratives of Escape and Survival. London:
McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000.
Kibria, Nazli. Family Tightrope: The
Changing Lives of Vietnamese Americans. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1993.
Rutledge, Paul James. The Vietnamese Experience in America. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1992.
Tran, De; Lam, Andrew; and Nguyen, Hai Dai.
eds. Once Upon a Dream: The Vietnamese-American Experience. Kansas City:
Andrews & McMeel, 1995.
Zhou, Min and Bankston, Carl L. Growing Up American:
How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States. New York: Russell
Sage Foundation, 1998.
Week
15 - Dec. 5 - 7: Migration and the Contemporary Nation State
A new
regional division of labor, Citizenship and immigration, Policymaking Contemporary
Immigration in the Asia Pacific, and Transnationalization of immigration
Reading:
Takaki 472-509
Huntington, Samuel. "The Clash of Civilizations?"
Foreign Affairs 72.3 (1993): 22-49. and
Barber, Benjamin. "Introduction."
in Jihad vs. McWorld - Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy. 2-20. New York: Ballantine
Books, 1995.
Sassen, Saskia. "Introduction." in Globalization
and its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money. ix-xxxvi.
New York: New York Press, 1998.
Video:
Better Luck Tomorrow DVD 551
Further
Reading:
Huntington, Samuel. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign
Affairs 72.3 (1993): 22-49.
Barber, Benjamin. Jihad vs. McWorld - Terrorism's
Challenge to Democracy. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.
Sassen, Saskia.
Globalization and its Discontents. New York: New York Press, 1998.
FINAL PAPER - DUE DECEMBER 07, 2006
ASIAN
STUDIES 310
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
(AKA AS310
DIASPORAN COMMUNITIES OF THE ASIA PACIFIC)
FALL 2006
FALL
2006 GUEST SPEAKER SERIES
CHINESE-AMERICANS Oct. 24 - 26
JAPANESE-AMERICANS
Oct. 31 - Nov. 2
Dr. Michael Shigeru Inoue, the Honorary Consul General
of Japan in San Diego - Nov. 2
  |
Contacted through Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana Program Director Aya
Ibarra, Dr. Michael Inoue graces our class in his capacity as Honorary Consul
General of Japan in San Diego. Dr. Inoue's vast experience and contacts makes
him the ideal speaker to talk to issues of a continuing Japanese American community
at large as well as here in San Diego. With his extensive grasp of the people,
issues, and history, we are honored to have Dr. Inoue. Dr. Inoue received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1967 and was a professor of Industrial Engineering there for 17 years. In 1982, he joined Kyocera International Inc., San Diego, and in 1986, he was appointed Vice President. He was appointed Senior Advisor in 2002 and served the company in that capacity until his retirement in 2004. He is the president emeritus of the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, having served as the founding chair of its Education Council (1996-2001) and president of the Society (2001-2003), and an Advisory Board Member of the School of Arts and Letters of San Diego State University. |
KOREAN-AMERICANS Nov. 7 - 9
FILIPINO-AMERICANS Nov. 14 - 16
Anamaria Labao Cabato - Nov. 16
  | Anamaria
Cabato comes to us with a deep sense of history in the local Filipino community.
On her own merits, Ms. Cabato comes to us as the Executive Director of the PASACAT
Dance Company. She is also the daughter of notable Filipino-American Delfin "Del"
Labao, a Filipino, who lived through and virtually created the Filipino community
in San Diego. Labao is a charismatic yet enigmatic figure who has lived through
it all. A humanitarian who values education, his dreams of education will have
to wait and find full expression in the completion of college degrees by his three
daughters: Anamaria, Guadalupe, and Teresita. |
VIETNAMESE-AMERICANS Nov. 14 - 16 and Nov. 28 - 30
Mye Hoang - Nov. 14
  | We
invited News Anchor Lee Ann Kim to speak to the class on issues surrounding the
Korean American communities as well as being a "woman of color" in a
male dominated world (not to mention being "Asian"). Miss Kim had to
cancel on short notice due to contractual obligations. Concerned about the class,
she quickly dispatched her able, knowledgeable and talented assistant - SDAFF
Associate Director Mye Hoang to grace us in her place. We are honored and delighted
to have Miss Hoang grace our class and share her experiences and musings. |
SDSU
AS310
2006 San Diego Asian Film
Festival
Survey Results
Reflections on Asians in America
 | |
|
| Race,
Rights, and the Asian American Experience by Angelo N. Ancheta: Ancheta does
not pull any punches. This is a serious book and it deals with serious issues.
Race, Rights and the Asian American Experience is defined by its strong views
and lucidity. Ancheta offers a sketch of the history of discrimination against
Asian Americans, this writer suggests though that for a more robust narrative
the reader would have to turn to the likes of Ronald Takaki and tackle something
in the area of Stranger's From a Different Shore. Ancheta moves to outline what
he defines as a legal subordination of Asian Americans. Deftly articulating the
insidious impact of nativism on race relations and the production of citizenship.
Ancheta leaves no one out as he takes aim at the very Constitution itself outlining
that it "can... restrict the scope of anti-discrimination laws." Ancheta
argues that all these so called anti-discrimination laws do not consider the inherent
racial bias contained therein. Ancheta sees race as a dynamic, social construction
as opposed to something intrinsic or natural. Moreover, Ancheta points to the
shifts in the demographic landscape as perhaps the single most significant force
responsible for problematizing the black-white bifurcation. As a case in point,
in Ho v. San Francisco "model minority" is a handicap to those defined
as such. In perhaps the most telling of cases in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923), Ancheta glosses over it but he does not miss the significance of the cases. Ancheta posits that we have come far since the 1790 Nationality Act that allowed only "Free White" aliens to be admitted to U.S. Citizenship yet more work has to be done. Even well the turn of the century, in Ozawa v. United States (1922) and in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923), Japanese Americans as well as Asian Indians both failed in their push to be classified as white so that they could obtain citizenship. Since only whites could become citizens, there was a race to prove that one was "white." Ancheta writes: "In United States v. Thind, the Supreme Court ruled that Asian Indians were barred from naturalization, even though scientific evidence at the time indicated that Indians belonged to the Caucasian race. The popular conception of Caucasian, the Court noted, clearly excluded Indians: "It is a matter of familiar observation and knowledge that the physical group characteristics of the Hindus renders them readily distinguishable from the various persons in this country commonly recognized as white." The Court also indicated that the racial bar applied to other Asians as well: "There is much in the origin and historic development of the statute to suggest that no Asiatic whatever was included"" (24). Feeling that Ancheta was going to take this further, I was disappointed in that it seems clearer than ever that the rulings were devoid of any real basis in law and fact but rather relied on "familiar observation and knowledge" as if some `common-sense' hegemony ruled over such things as objective science and the law. It is argued by some critics that Ancheta ignores a wider global perspective. I argue that despite the very international scope of the book, globalization and such issues is not within the thesis or framework of the book. Ancheta should be commended for his groundbreaking piece. |
|
| Strangers
from a Different Shore : A History of Asian Americans by Ronald Takaki: What
was useful to me as a new scholar in the area of migration studies is that in
Strangers from a Different Shore, Takaki's makes extensive use of numbers - mixed
in with a plethora of anecdote. Once again, we are beset with the notion that
there are statistics and such. What was really missing, at least for me, was the
framing of the Asian American experience (of which Takaki is somewhat self-reflective
but contradictory here - since there really is no homogenous `Asian American'
experience per se) within the framework of world migration. As much as the anecdotes
and references to numbers are concerned they do have explanatory powers but then
both are not really examined against hard core migration theory - so in some places
the book fails as history. Nonetheless, Takaki's narrative of first generation
immigrants is compelling and very accessible and prompts us to ask some fairly
fundamental questions. Takaki does move us to ask the very fundamental questions about what it is to be American. He uses a variety of sources - much of which, as indicated above - are problematically anecdotal. Nonetheless, Takaki paints a picture that is in many places lucid. Takaki also provide an explanation for the landscape of modern day demographics and gives the reader a broad base to work with to understand the modern day ethnic dynamic in America. Takaki is far-reaching use of the immigrants own voice. However, the question we are faced with is this `really' reflective of the Asian American voice or does Takaki's examination have an agenda - not that that is bad or wrong per se, it just has to be recognized. I was somewhat disenchanted that Takaki did not provide more detail on the Thai and Hmong Americans. Takaki's examination of the Thai examination was noted only relation to that of the Vietnamese experience and it was certainly not very flattering either way. Also, if Takaki is completely accurate about the Asian Indian experience does this mean that most Asian Indian immigrants to the US are from the Punjab - or at least at the time that Takaki is focusing on? On the other hand, examining anything from a regional studies perspective is always tricky as there are criteria for inclusion and exclusion. What is it really to be Asian American? Where does Asia `really' start and end? Is Takaki `really' focusing on East Asia when he writes extensively about the American Chinese and American Japanese experience? How is the rest of Asia `really' treated? Who defines `Southeast Asia'? Where Takaki sometimes falls short, at least for me, is how he defines what. It is not entirely crucial, per se - just that it would be more helpful to see where and how he came up with some of his categories. Although Takaki does provide extensive detail in relation to particular `Asian American' groups, in a way I still have mixed feelings about how he divided the book into sections then focused on those particular `Asian American' groupings. You would not think by reading this but I do recommend the book highly if only for its extensive scope. |
|
| The Chinese
in America: A Narrative History by Iris Chang: Iris
Chang, in "The Chinese in America: A Narrative History" articulates
the Chinese immigrant experience and identity over historic time. According to
Chang, the real push/pull began when "In 1868, China and the U.S. government
signed the Burlingame Treaty. In exchange for "most favored nation"
status in trade, China agreed to recognize the "inherent and inalienable
right of man to change his home and allegiance and also mutual advantage of free
migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects respectively from one
country to the other for purposes of curiosity or trade or as permanent residents""
(Chang 57). In this narrative, she writes about how Chinese immigrants took the
risk of moving to a new and alien land only to realize that they had been duped.
Racist laws were enacted and played themselves out by next door neighbors who
ultimately suspected then of nativist tendencies and mixed loyalties. In the 150-year
historic timeline that Chang writes about, we begin with the realities in Qing
dynasty China and a government that nearly bankrupted the nation prompting the
Chinese to desperately seek refuge in what they called "Gam Saan." According to Chang, the Chinese immigration falls into three waves: those who came here to be laborers during the days of the California gold rush and the building of the transcontinental railroad, those who came to escape the 1949 communist takeover, and those who came in the 1980s and 1990s as relations between China and the U.S. improved. Over 100,000 Chinese came to work as placer miners during the California rush of 1849. This first rush ended in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act when "[Horace] Page's bill passed both houses of Congress. This time, President Arthur, doubtless fully sensitive to the response after his previous veto, did not oppose it. On May 6, 1882, he signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act. Thus was enacted, as one scholar has put it, "one of the most infamous and tragic statues in American history," one that would "frame the immigration debate in the years that followed and [result in] greater and greater restrictions on foreigners seeking refuge and freedom in the United States"' (Chang 132). Along the same lines, according to Chang, the Chinese have forever been marked, stereotyped, and attacked but also that the signifier shifts. Chang also explores the current triple-bind that is the American-born Chinese or the "ABC" experience: to excel, to become white, and to embrace their ethnic heritage, in all this time dealing with a dominant white majority that shifts the signifier that is the Chinese American. Chang writes "Almost overnight, the attack on Pearl Harbor transformed the American image of China and Japan - and redistributed stereotypes for both Chinese and Japanese Americans. [...] Some Chinese Americans saw a silver lining in this shift of racial antipathy and used the newly favorable Chinese image to bring about the repeal of the exclusion laws. After Pearl Harbor, several influential Americans, both ethnic Chinese and Caucasian, lobbied to overturn the ban on Chinese immigration that had been enacted back in 1882 (Chang 222-5). Like all books that are based on oral histories the individual story is taken to be representative of a much larger story. In this light, the book is no different from Jung Chang's "Wild Swans." In her defense, I found that the story of the Qing destruction and the internal turmoil that constantly plagues China, which serves as a push factor to move, which Chang stretches over 150 years, to be very useful to get a sense of the scale of the suffering in China. Unlike Ronald Takaki, Chang drops the ball and leaves out the development of the Chinese immigrant in key locations like Hawaii - which was really seminal in the entire migration process. Chang also explores the anti-Chinese hysteria, starting with the race riots in Cleveland during the placer mining era all the way to the espionage witchhunt of the 1990s all really helpful in getting a sense of the Chinese American experience. Chang spends a considerable time on the case of Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese American researcher who worked at Los Alamos. Lee was accused of passing nuclear technology information to Chinese government on inconclusive evidence. Chang suggests that perhaps education and a greater sense of the voice will help to alleviate racism - perhaps there is a lesson in there for all of us. |
|
| Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston: Maxine Hong Kingston's book "The Woman Warrior" is really written on the premise that it is a personal narrative. That the book is a personal narrative is a double edged sword. The narrative style is perspectival which is both it's greatest strength and it's most glaring weakness. The underbelly of the book is that it is articulated as "Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts." The book then takes on a "fantastic" tone. Despite the ghosts representing anything "Other" than Chinese, she relates particularly to the females of her ethnic circle and the personal suffering in their lives, in a male-centered society in China and beyond. Hong Kingston works on the premise of "reconstruction" and sense of myth making. How close are these impressions reflective of authentic Chinese lore? How accurately are her portrayals? Hong Kingston's work is based mostly on memory and imagination which lends itself to personal interpretation. How much of this work is studied? Can it be seen as representative? Hong Kingston style does lend itself to elements that are vivid and alive and the links to the clan are strong. However, based on its personal angle the book cannot be seen to be representative of "the" Chinese American experience. I am sure Hong Kingston would agree. It would be safe to view this, Maxine Hong Kingston's magnum opus, as "talking stories" of development, coming of age, and growth. The Warrior Woman is the subaltern come alive and a triumph which gives voice and a sense of liberation on many levels. Just which levels those are depends on the read, I guess. |
 | America
Is in the Heart: A Personal History by Carlos Bulosan: Writing a review of
Carlos Bulosan's AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is a deceptively difficult thing to do.
What gives? It is an easy read, very straightforward, and well articulated. On
the surface, the ARCHIVE (in the Foucault sense) point to a death by a broken
heart. However, closer examination points to a death brought on by the collective
affliction, deprivation, and maltreatment since his arrival in the early 30s -
not to mention the bouts of excessive drinking and violence. The book, moreover,
leans toward a united effort to combat global fascism; but this poignant autobiography
is really a testimony to those years of struggle against racism and violence. An autobiography in four parts, Bulosan takes us back (literally and figuratively) to his roots in Binalonan, Pangasinan. Bulosan is keen to intimate his adolescent years were his family barely survived on four hectares of land (which they eventually lost to the moneylender and the absentee landlords) and the efforts of the DYNAMIC LITTLE PEASANT WOMAN. In the end, things just got SO BAD that the men (most barely boys) in the clan eventually opted for the promise of jobs and such in America. This begs the question (and often overlooked by scholars) that the suffering really started at home. His habitus was so bad, it seems, that despite the ravages he (and his direct kin as well as kababayans) experienced, they elected to remain in the US. That seems to be the common plight of most immigrants to the US - and I say this guardedly. At this point, I would like to juxtapose the optimism and the rage that formed the collective consciousness of Carlos Bulosan and his inability to reconcile the contradiction. AMERICA IS ALSO THE NAMELESS FOREIGNER, THE HOMELESS REFUGEE, THE HUNGRY BOY BEGGING FOR A JOB AND THE BLACK BODY DANGLING ON A TREE. AMERICA IS THE ILLITERATE IMMIGRANT WHO IS ASHAMED THAT THE WORLD OF BOOKS AND THE INTELLECTUAL OPPORTUNITIES IS CLOSED TO HIM. WE ARE ALL THAT NAMELESS FOREIGNER, THE HOMELESS REFUGEE, THAT HUNGRY BOY, THAT ILLITERATE IMMIGRANT AND THAT LYNCHED BLACK BODY. ALL OF US, FROM THE FIRST ADAMS TO THE LAST FILIPINO, NATIVE BORN OR ALIEN, EDUCATED OR ILLITERATE. WE ARE AMERICA! Carlos Bulosan, excerpt from AMERICA IS IN THE HEART Almost echoing the angst of Richard Wright, Bulosan and his proletarian experience is translated quickly to a racism tour-de-force. It cuts right into the heart of his critique. Despite being laced with communist verbiage, the autobiography is a critique against the savagery of prejudice. The subaltern has spoken. We simply need to take heed. One of the most compelling or fascinating issues brought up in AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is the issue of gender discrimination. The laws prohibiting marriage to white women by so-called Mongolian (and later changed to include Malay) was to exacerbate the racist problems. What is the REAL impact on the psyche of a law such as this? What are the long-term effects of ignorant eugenic laws such as these? Who knows? Despite the clarity of the writing, it would seem that the book was written in good faith but it certainly fumbles from a lack of sophistication (which does not pose a problem for me). I don't think Bulosan meant this work to be representative of the entire Filipino-American experience but it certainly suffers an editorial/historical problem. Bulosan certainly edits his experience. Punctuated with a sense of disgust for the human experience it makes me feel that he lacks pathos. In terms of the veracity of the entire book, I have no problem believing the accuracy of the experience but history is already removed one step to us via the writer and one more step removed again by the writer to his actual experience. We may never get to the REAL truth and the REAL extent of the violence. However, if but one experience of violence against a Filipino AS SUCH, or a denial of lodging to a Filipino AS SUCH (or any group for that matter) is accurate then an injustice has occurred. We as a body politic should take note. AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is therefore a book that is also a call for collective agency. To re-iterate, this book may not be fully representative of the PINOY experience and certainly Bulosan should be read carefully. It is an indictment on a negative social condition - where one man can create an OTHER in a society that plays up universal brotherhood. Not to trivialize the concern, this is not an uncommon malady. The question that begs to be asked is: Does Bulosan write AS IF he is writing about the whole truth? In closing, Bulosan is a necessary read because it augments the selection of the Asian-American experience in general and ethnic studies in general. It is a deep and cutting exploration into a Filipino experience - it adds to the complexity of identity creation. If anything, this book is a pause to be self-reflective of the past for both the SAME and the OTHER. In loving memory to a brave kababayan... |
 | Empire
of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History by Catherine Ceniza
Choy: Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History by
Catherine Ceniza Choy is a socio-historical explanation for the migration of Filipino
nurses into the US during the 20th century. Principally, she articulates why since
the changes in the immigration laws via the 1965 Immigration Act, travel in the
US by skilled workers was made much easier and becoming permanent residents of
the US made easier still. Choy's examination leads one to conclude that the permanent
structural demand in US hospitals, who relied on the labor of foreign-trained
nurses, may have been one but certainly not the only reason for the massive exodus
out from the Philippines and into the US. Beyond articulating why so many Filipino
nurses came to the United States, Choy undertakes and investigation of the experience
of these very nurses. She argues that the US colonial experience developed a highly
racialized hierarchy with white Americans at the summit and Filipinos at the base.
As per to Choy, U.S. colonials at the turn of the century effectively formed the
foundation for subsequent migrations through the creation of an American-style
infrastructure and training program, initiating an American-style nursing work
culture, by effectively gendering the nursing industry and relegating nursing
to "women's work," Moreover, this move, perhaps as an unintended consequence
developed fluency among the nurses in the use of English, and by starting programs
such as the Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) that eventually brought Filipino nursing
students to the US for advanced training. Under the auspices of the EVP, Filipino nurses were able to obtain further professional training, while in the US, some nurses decided to reside here permanently. As most immigration experiences go, the monster of racialization rears its ugly head in the cases that Choy highlights as problematic: (1) The Richard Speck murder case and (2) the AV murder case in Ann Arbor Michigan involving 2 Filipino nurses. Richard Speck was accused of and convicted of murdering a group of nurses in a Chicago suburb in 1966, which included two Filipino nurses in the EVP program. Choy examines the disturbing fascination with Speck as opposed to the deaths of 22-year-old Merlita Gargullo and 23-year-old Valentina Pasion. The survival of Corazon Amurao and the subsequent trial and the examination of Speck by Marvin Ziporyn "[...] illustrates the American public's growing fascination with the life and mind of murderer Speck and its fading interest in the lives of the young women slain. In such depictions, these women had become only figments of a larger, seemingly more important story about a criminal mind" (Choy 133-4). The 1977 murder case involving two Filipino nurses accused of poisoning their patients in Ann Arbor, Michigan is arguably more insidious. In a move that reminded this reader of the case of Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti who were arrested outside Boston in 1920 and charged with the robbing and killing of a shoe factory paymaster and his guard. In the same manner the racialization of the nurses as "Filipino" and the resurgence of the negative imagery of Asians is examined in this book. In the chapter "The enigma of the Little Filipino" (Choy 145-52), Choy undertakes to examine the racialized nature of the case and the subsequent FBI actions relating thereto. The sections that examine for the Speck and VA case read like a highly research detective story - the irony is that it is non-fiction should not escape our reading. Another "reality" that Choy brings to mind is that nurses form a significant number of Filipinos working overseas. The Filipino Overseas Worker (FOW), as far as the Philippine government is concerned is a resource. The FOW earns hard currency (usually US dollars) and sends back that money to their families in the form of a remittance. Enduring economic crisis in the balance of payments is seen as the leading cause for export of manpower since, as mentioned previously, the remittances keep the country solvent. The sad part to this testament is the double bind that the Philippine government finds itself experiencing. On the one hand there is the very real need for the remittances, the Philippine government did, to their credit, initially try to hang on to nurses to meet health care deficit at home. However, by the 1970s it had no choice but to promote expatriation as a way to earn much needed foreign currency through those very remittances. Ironically, despite having a real health care professional shortage at home, the Philippines was the leading supplier to the worldwide structural demand for nurses and health care professionals. Historians and the author of this book rightfully return to Colonial times to articulate the flow of immigrant to the US. The American-style of hospital administration foisted in Manila and the provinces according to Choy set the stage for later immigration into the US. By interrelating Philippine migration history to US imperial history Choy makes a seminal contribution to the fields of Migration, Asian, and Filipino studies. Scholars who are interested in these three areas and perhaps more should not overlook this book. |
 | Locating
Filipino Americans: Ethnicity and Cultural Politics of Space by Rick Bonus: Locating
Filipino Americans by Rick Bonus is by definition an ethnographic study. Having
said that, ethnographic studies carry with them the benefits and risks of undertaking
such a project. As most ethnographic studies of this nature are concerned one
is able to push forward an agenda without really stating one's agenda up front.
In this case, however, bonus is clear that his agenda is plainly descriptive.
He deftly moves to describe the Filipino American communities in both Los Angeles
and San Diego. Bonus is also clear that he is working within a multi-disciplinary
framework and he is examining the connection between identity and space. Bonus
posits that particular spaces allow Filipino Americans to react to and oppose
the ways in which the dominant discourse has throughout history and via hegemonic
institutions have removed this group of agency, hence voice. Bonus zeroes in on
three particular "spaces." [1] "Oriental" stores, [2] the
community centers (where the pinoys practice "palengke" politics), and
[3] through the media via the local newspapers. Identifying the spaces and articulating our mechanisms of resistance Bonus does us a big favor. First, he allows to see what it is we are doing. In this sense he makes us more self-reflective. Second, through this articulation we can now be self-reflective of how we use these mechanisms of resistance to our advantage. Self-reflexivity then allows us to move forward more aware of our actions and move towards some form of positive change. Bonus is also good at showing us how we "invent" ourselves (although the fetish for liminality does not really allow us to pin stuff down in any definite way) and through a reverse sense of "Orientalism" (see his references to Edward Said) in that we tend to appropriate what is needed and exclude what is not useful in an effort to cope with the situation at hand. On the other hand, it seems like Bonus is flirting with the idea that migration becomes a homogenizing experience - which the next generation is losing touch with their roots and becoming more "american" or what they perceive "american" to be. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but that it is part of an ever-changing landscape of self-identity. Bonus alludes to several really key things that he does not really follow through with. What is missing is the complexity within the community itself. Bonus begins to write about the 150+ sub-groupings under COPAO in San Diego and another 200+ sub-groupings in San Diego. He alludes to a historical development in terms of migration (with a link to colonialism) and intra-ethnic division and loyalty that undermines social as well as political unity. Consider this work then a seed to even further complexity and exploration. Locating Filipino Americans is unique in that Bonus is grounded in a theoretical framework that allows us to get a better understanding of the state of affairs. As much as labels allude to a sense of clear-cut definitions, Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian-American group in America just behind the Chinese. The Filipino-American community should be grateful and use this book in an effort to get a better understanding and potential that is clearly self-evident. Bonus has done an important piece that is as informative and thought provoking as it is inspiring. |
 |
Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino
Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement by Craig Scharlin, Lilia V. Villanueva:
A very intimate portrait of his struggle as a new immigrant, farm worker and then
later activist, Philip Vera Cruz honors us with his reflections in `Philip Vera
Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement.'
Authored by Scharlin and Villanueva, Cruz gives us a personal account of his encounters
with Cesar Chavez and the rest of the ilk of the United Farm Workers. |
 | The
Gangster of Love by Jessica Hagedorn: Interlaced in the story of Rocky Rivera
(and a wonderfully developed cast of characters) is a deep sense of the rich heritage
that is a Filipino upbringing. Laced with that Hagedorn grit is a consistent level
of angst that immigrants feel when moving into a new cultural milieu. Hagedorn
is amazing with playing within the private sphere and experience - anxious about
the clash between traditional Philippine values and modern American values. Rocky moves to San Francisco from the Philippine with her mother Milagros and brother Voltaire and is thrust into a maelstrom of personalities in the supporting cast of Elvis, Keiko, Auntie Fely and Uncle Bas. Rocky moves to New York to embark on an adventure that is not really representative of the typical Filipino immigrant experience but it is a rich space to explore a sense of displacement. This book raises crucial questions for immigrants in general and Filipinos in particular. What is it that we should retain? What should be ready and willing to let go? Is there a point of no return? When we become American do we stop being Filipino? Do we exist in two realms? Do we exist in multiple spheres? Does this dichotomy REALLY exist or is it real because we make it so? It is not until Rocky is drawn to her father's deathbed that she comes to the realization of the chasm between what she was and what she is and what she is running away from. Which brings to mind another point - running away. Running away is a common problem among displaced immigrants. There is that sense that one has to leave someplace to escape or run away from one's place of origin. It has to be THAT BAD. The sense of desperation is exemplified by Milagros - who is running away from Rocky's philandering father. Milagros is never comfortable in San Francisco - she is torn between what status demands and her embarrassment at being seen in what she has become. She hangs around Auntie Fely. This cultural subtlety is very difficult to pick up from one outside the milieu - when Milagros is embarrassed to be seen with Auntie Fely at the Imelda trial in New York. With one foot in the old country serving as a fulcrum and the other in the new country is little wonder that most immigrants can maintain a sense of center and remain sane. Never really forming a sense of closure but developing coping mechanisms the émigré is left to his/her own devices and is constantly nostalgic about going home. Begs the question: Where is home? Home, I guess, is a matter of perspective. Perspective is another thing Hagedorn is good at. Despite destabilizing a basically linear story she plays with perspectives when she switches from Rocky to Elvis and plays around with what Elvis is thinking and feeling. The whole question of the Chinese experience is not really fully developed in this story - as if Hagedorn did not really want to go there - as if to tease us that there is more there. Maybe the story can be picked up by something like the movie Mano Po (Regal Films) or Arlene Chai's works. Nonetheless, the book is as compelling as any in its genre. After reading Dogeaters, I was convinced that Hagedorn may have missed an opportunity by not presenting a possible solution - but perhaps the cathartic nature of herr work is a solution in itself. I highly recommend this book not only to the Diaspora Filipino trying to form some sense of closure but to the widest possible audience to get a sense of the Filipino immigrant experience and to begin dialogue. This piece is new dawn - a reconstruction from a deconstruction. |
 | Dogeaters
by Jessica Hagedorn: Like Carabaos in the mud, we are quick to embrace our
own "Otherness". Pause for a second from the breakneck pastiche that Hagedorn is presenting you. Read the reviews that present arguments such as a "fragmented novel" or "multiple narrative" or "disjointed plot progression" and everyone is quick to categorize Dogeaters as a "Postmodern" tour de force. I guess the real question we have to ask ourselves is - What now? It is vogue to jump in to the fashionable world of so-called post colonial examinations and tangle your readers in so-called "Postmodern" purposeful ambiguity and you are left with what? I guess what I am really saying is that the good writers coming out of the vast wealth of material that the turbulent history that the Philippines provides always seem to get mired in that Marcos-era, colonial identity search (a project that is defined by our colonial past - hence we never seem to have our own) and leave the reader with a sense of hopelessness. Does it really have to be that way - I don't think so. Arlene Chai writes "Last Time I saw Mother" and Jessica Hagedorn presents us with "Dogeaters" - both are fascinating looks at a really fragmented identity crisis. Chai chooses a more conventional and sanitized look while Hagedorn chooses a more gritty, stylish and angst ridden version of our identity creation. Where the two converge is the stories they can't seem to help themselves but write about - caricature of Marcos administration style Gestapo tactics, our strong ties to our colonial past, infusion of Tagalog words whose double meaning is lost to those outside the discourse (since we are all "Postmodern" here) - what they are really writing about is an embrace of the "Otherness" that we so much suffer from. While we are object to the gaze - we have reversed our role as subject in this discourse and are looking at the "Other" (in this case our colonial benefactors) and have internalized our "Otherness". We valorize american consumerism while we are being vilified by the west. The fractured nature of our identity is a much written about topic and that we are an amalgam of our colonial past is often written about. What is missing is a sense of our own identity and the celebration thereof . Where are the positive reprsentations? Where is the possiblity? Much of this book focuses on the Maternal leanings of our society. We are all things and nothing. We are indo-malayan, we are spanish, we are wanna-be americans. We watch western music and yearn for a country that is "Other" really. We are not destined to remain Joey Sands or Rio Gonzaga. I will grant Hagedorn her place as a good writer. Despite the book hanging everywhere and not really going anywhere, it offers a slice of life but not the whole picture. The book is sexy, sassy and despite burgis language - the book is anti-burgis. It is kitsch - its trap is that is falls into the samee trap of the caricature of the Filipino as reactionary with no depth. Where is the true "Intelektual" in the halo-halo? Where is Rizal? You might not believe this, but despite everything that I have outlined above, I recommend this book highly. As a Filipino abroad, you will be nostalgic but you will be disturbed by it. The language is pure sensationalism - but it is representative of a slice of life that we might not be proud of but seem to fall into without much examination. That "Dogeaters" is a cold, hard look at ourselves, I give her the 5 stars. The question I have for Jessica Hagedorn is, if this is deconstruction, where is the reconstruction? Do we remain "Dogeaters"? |
| | |
 | The
Cheat ~ Sessue Hayakawa (1915): The Cheat was made in 1915 way after the 1904
indefinite extension of The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion
Act was a culmination to more than thirty years of arguably systematic racism.
Strong anti-Chinese feeling had existed ever since the gam saan-haak migration
from China during the gold rush, where white miners and prospectors levied taxes
and enacted laws to hinder Chinese success. Racial strife amplified as more and
more Chinese came into the US, and created a perceived rivalry on the job market. By as early as 1882 the Chinese were hated enough to be banned from coming into the US; the Chinese Exclusion Act, initially only a ten year policy, was extended indefinitely, and by 1902, made permanent. Things change in 1943 (as we will see with Anna May Wong's Lady from Chungking and Bombs over Burma), China was an important ally of the US against Japan. It would be unpatriotic to discriminate against our allies, so we set out to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act. Despite the reprieve, there remained a lasting impact in filmic representations in characters like Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan. "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet," quoth an intertitle in Cecil B. DeMille's The Cheat (1915), before the trial for the shooting of a Burmese aristocrat by a protective white assailant - if we only knew! I am still reeling of the irony of a "Burmese" "Oriental" (Sessue Hayakawa - who is actually Japanese) hell bent on claiming Edith Hardy (Fannie Ward) as his own. Despite the vindication of her husband Richard (Jack Dean), my interest in The Cheat is the invention of the "Scheming Yellow Oriental" and the perpetuation (if not invention) of the filmic representation of the "Yellow Peril." Be critical! |
 | The
Thief of Bagdad ~ Anna May Wong (1924): Ever wonder
where the idea of the magic carpet ride comes from? Well look no further than
Raoul Walsh and Douglas Fairbanks's The Thief of Bagdad. An amalgamation of Arabian
Nights magic, romance, fantasy, mythical travelogue, and sense of fun The Thief
of Bagdad transcends the irony of its caricatures and stereotypes - not just from
what it reifies but by what it invents. With its theme nestled squarely on the precept that "Happiness must be earned," The Thief of Bagdad starts with Fairbanks as a happy-go-lucky "Middle Eastern street thief" [the first of many negative stereotypes]. Though at first this cheerful "thief" - who feels he can take what he wants - aand no rules apply, the road to salvation begins when he falls in love with the caliph's daughter (Julanne Johnston) - things take on a different significance. True to character, Fairbanks starts by pretending to be a prince to win her over. Found out, the thief ends up punished and then humbled, in the end seeking the counsel of the "holy man" he earlier abused. He is advised hat if he truly loves the princess, he himself must make the transformation and "become a prince." The epic begins when all suitors must come up with a unique gift. As with all good epics, the thief on a fantastic storybook return "there and back again" to the bottom of the sea, haunted by sirens as well as giant spiders, to the space above the clouds, where Fairbanks discovers the home of the winged horse and the sanctuary of the moon. When taking into consideration filmic representations - I was drawn to this movie via my interest in Anna May Wong - as the "Mongol Slave." However, after further consideration, I was drawn to the character of Sojin - who plays the "Mongol Prince." With purposeful intent or by accident, the Mongol Prince comes across with the same type acquisitiveness of a Dr. Fu Manchu. Coincidence, perhaps but it is an interesting phenomenon to observe. While both the "Mongols" Slave and Prince "sneak" about the "Orientals" in our imagination are reified. Well, it is a magical carpet ride, right? |
 | The
Good Earth ~ Luise Rainer (1937): There were only Chinese in the background.
Just like in Memoirs of a Geisha (the actresses - or at least the main ones where
Chinese instead of Japanese) the actors and actresses in The Good Earth where
not Chinese either. I certainly cried foul when in Memoirs of a Geisha Chinese
actresses where asked to play Japanese roles. The actresses in Memoirs of a Geisha
did not pull it off then and The Good Earth's stars Paul Muni and Luise Rainer
did not pull it off either - sorry. Now, would the role of O-Lan have been better
played by Anna May Wong is arguable. As a Chinese American - she was removed from
here Chinese ethnic roots - or was she. Nevertheless, the point is there were
only Chinese people in the background. Paul Muni plays Wang Lung, a peasant Chinese farmer. Conversely, Luise Rainer is O-Lan, his once slave now wife. This cinematic adaptation of the Pearl Buck novel (which is arguably the source of the problem) has Wang Lung and O-Lan trying to make their way in what is an epic battle against poverty, nature, and a whole host of other impediments - like their own personalities. Starting from scratch and building their land holdings up from nothing, then as the famine hit, losing everything. The family moves south only to slum it on the streets of the city. O-Lan - the perennial luck bringer finds a cache of jewels during a riot (in which she was almost killed herself), she and Wang Lung become the landlords once again. Wang Lung sets up a stereotype of the disloyal Chinese fellow who hurts his wife deeply - one who brought all the luck by engaging in a second, younger wife. To get biblical, our protagonists - using the skills gained by their young son - battle against a plague of locusts and win! Predictably (and it is all over the place) there is a tone of inexcusable jingoism in the movie. The Good Earth more a reflection of how we saw Chinese rather than an authentic rendition of the Chinese themselves. Muni and Rainer (who won an Oscar for this role) are miscast for the roles, and particularly the minor characters (many of whom are also played by Non-Chinese) do a terrible job of playing Chinese - they are all in caricature. One could only give kudos to a movie like this if (1) One thought this was a wonderful rendition of what we think Chinese are, and (2) One has never been to China. It is Orientalism and should be seen as such. |
 | Bombs over Burma ~ Anna May Wong (1942): Bombs over Burma and Lady from Chungking both starred Anna May Wong; predictably both were made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Both came at a time when the Japanese (guilty by association - the Japanese Americans) became the enemy (the "Other") and with equal vigor all the rest of the Asians - particularly the Chinese Americans saw a change of heart - we are now all allies. This adds credence to the old adage that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Bombs over Burma is a good, tight story. Anna May Wong's leading performance more than makes up for this World War II feature's low-budget (but high on propaganda) look. The story has Wong as a schoolteacher who is aiding the allies to keep the Burma Road supply line open, despite many enemy raids. The core of the movie/story centers on how a bus load of people are stranded in a remote monastery along the supply line. The story begins to pick up when it is discovered that one of the group is a traitor and is informing the Japanese Air Force of incoming supply convoys. With little time to tell the story, well, the suspense is maintained rather well for that short time. We are kept guessing as long as possible as to just how things will turn out - we swing from one caricature to another - but we know that Anna is innocent. Wong also gets support from some of the other cast members. In a smaller role as the kind of lowlife Dan Seymour comes through. Leslie Denison as Sir Roger gives it his best. As the Yankee truck driver Nedrick Young has a few of good moments. Finally, Connie Leon does a great job as a Burmese bureaucrat. Despite all its down sides, the story is interesting in itself, and it also serves the purpose of illuminating a vital but little-remembered propaganda aspect of cinema. |
 | Lady from Chunking ~ Anna May Wong (1943): Lady from Chungking and Bombs over Burma both starred Anna May Wong; predictably both were made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Both came at a time when the Japanese (guilty by association - the Japanese Americans) became the enemy (the "Other") and with equal vigor all the rest of the Asians - particularly the Chinese Americans saw a change of heart - we are now all allies. This adds credence to the old adage that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." This is an effective and low budget wartime drama. Anna May Wong's has that special something that adds a bit of magic. The story has Wong as the leader of a resistance group (but this time in the fields (undercover since she is THE Lady from Chungking) to the Japanese invaders in China. Anna May Wong is once again nothing short of stellar. She does however get lots of assistance from her supporting crew. Mae Clarke is hot as "Times Square." The core of Orientalism is seen in the Japanese general with whom Wong's character must outsmart. Harold Huber is miscast for the role. However, for the purposes of the movie he is perfect as the greedy yet short-sighted, egotistical but foolish Japanese general we have been racialized to believe. In this movie, unlike Bombs over Burma, Wong gets to explore her range. At certain times in the movie she is this meek subject of the occupiers, at other instances she is this tough as nails leader of the underground ready to sacrifice everything... and I mean "everything." Despite taking the risk of falling prey to this form of Orientalism may is decked out and looks hot and elegant as the Lady from Chungking - I would fall for her. General Kaimura did not stand a chance. Anna May Wong might be better remembered for high budget productions like The Thief of Bagdad but it is great to see her in this propaganda flick that make available examples of her wide range of talents. |
 | The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, 4 Full-Length Episodes ~ Carla Balenda (1950s): This set includes The Master Plan of Dr. Fu Manchu. I was especially interested in the last one starring Glen Gordon, Lester Matthews, Clark Howat, Laurette Luez, John George and Carla Balenda. Guest starring Alan Dexter, Steven Geray, Damian O’ Flynn and Stuart Whitman. Written by Arthur Orloff and directed by William Witney. In this story, Dr. Fu Manchu (Glen Gordon) kidnaps a prominent plastic surgeon named Dr. Harlow Henderson (Alan Dexter) and forces him to change the face of the one and only arch demonized individual of all time: Adolf Hitler. Apparently, only Fu Manchu had the know how to keep him alive and in hiding. The yellow peril incarnate, Dr. Fu Manchu plans to join forces with Adolf Hitler and do nothing short of conquering the world! Unbeknownst to him, Dr. John Petrie (Clark Howat) accidentally stumbles into Fu Manchu’s “evil” plot while searching for his lost friend. Dr. Petrie finds himself held prisoner and compelled to care for Henderson’s most recent patient after Dr. Henderson is done away with in classic Dr. Fu Manchu style. The question is: Can Nayland Smith (Lester Matthews) stop this most deadly duo? This episode moves at a nice swift pace. It certainly has some unexpected twists and turns and is actually funny – for the most part – until one begins to understand the juxtaposition. Do some research on Fu Manchu and get a fix on what the character represents, and then all of a sudden it is not so funny. |
 | The Castle of Fu Manchu ~ Rosalba Neri (1969): The evil villain, Fu Manchu is said to be evil incarnate. Check this out: "Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government--which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man." -- Nayland Smith to Dr. Petrie in "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu": Chapter 2. In this movie, he does not disappoint. Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) returns with a sinister plan to freeze the oceans of the world. Nayland Smith (Richard Greene) seems to be the only person who can stop the madman from achieving his ultimate goal. Despite the insidious nature of the role, sadly, this is the last performance of Fu Manchu by Christopher Lee. Lee brings a quiet elegance to the Fu Manchu genre like no other. Assisted by Tsai Chin who played his daughter Lin Tang, Fu Manchu is merciless in his attempt at world domination. With regards to this DVD, Blue Underground does a good job of taking us back into Fu Manchu lore. You get the poster, the gallery, the trailer for the film. There are interviews with Jess Franco, Harry Alan Towers, Christopher Lee and Tsai Chin that are worth the DVDs price. In addition to that there are Talent Bios, The Facts of Dr. Fu Manchu and very well written liner notes by Video Watchdog creator Tim Lucas - great stuff! What a wonderful way to get into the history of the villainous Fu Manchu. |
 |
Picture Bride ~ Youki Kudoh: Caught between a rock and a hard place, "Picture
Brides" succumb to the "push" factors that force them to leave
their homes (in this case Japan) to marry "site unseen" (except for
a picture of a man halfway across the world) in this case, Hawaii. Picture Bride centers around the life and time of the fictional Riyo (Youki Kudoh - who made the character "Pumpkin" in Memoirs of a Geisha famous), a 17-year-old who leaves Yokohama, Japan; in order to marry a man (as mentioned previously) she's never met. Set in Hawaii in 1918, Matsuji (Akira Takayama) it is revealed lied about his age. He is 25 years older than she is. Their relationship is unsatisfactory to both sides - her from the betrayal and him, well, you do the math. In the interim, Riyo, formerly of Yokohama is having difficulty coping with her new conditions - working in the sugar fields with one leeg in Hawaii and another trying to book passage back "home." Riyo meets up and forms a bond with Kana (Tamlyn Tomita), who teaches her to earn extra money by doing laundry for others after work in the fields - she fuels a dream to go home. Riyo, as previously mentioned is desperately trying to get back to Japan, puts money away until she slowly begins to see her condition from a different perspective - she will become a settler. The movie is sensitively directed by Kayo Hatta. Hatta does an incredible job maneuvering this already tense drama which sets the stage for the likes of Snow Falling on Cedars but was presaged by Come See Paradise. Engaging in yet a different version of the deceptive pastoral, the movie is set in picturesque Hawaii. Picture Bride is a tribute to the resilience of immigrants and an amazing filmic representation of a narrative that would have otherwise gone silent. |
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| Better
Luck Tomorrow DVD ~ Justin Lin: Justin Lin's Better
Luck Tomorrow is a story about testing boundaries. Better Luck Tomorrow reminds
me more of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment than anything else. The narrative
of the story centers on a core group of four teens that, seeking to make money,
find some rather creative techniques to this effect. The eventual rise in prominence
leads them to a lifestyle of partying to have something to do with their time
in the center of a tedious, and boring suburban existence. Ben (the overachiever)
as well as his cohort aspires to a future in higher education while, conversely,
seeking security in a life of crime. Until they meet Steve, this core group's
routine was somewhat predictable. Not to give anything away in the story the whole
narrative takes a very different turn from there. Juxtaposing this movie alongside the more benign The Debut is a bit ironic, I think. While The Debut is really about Asian-Americans (in this particular case the Filipino-American community) Better Luck Tomorrow is not about a particular community but speaks to a universal theme of growing up in America. To call it an Asian American movie is, I think a bit of a misnomer. It succeeds as a dark, sassy film, but it fails when it tries to be unconventional. That this breakout movie by Justin Lin is Asian American because of its director and its characters I will grant it. The theme though it is not uniquely Asian - taking for granted that such can be describes as a state. Anyway, this does not take away from the sensitivity with which Lin treats the characters and the angst that they experience - for that this movie, I feel, deserves it accolades. The sad truth is that it is not a movie of what can happen but what is happening. In this case I would have to defer to the viewer to make heads or tails of the excess of the movie. |
 | American Adobo DVD ~ Christopher De Leon: Habitus, according to Pierre Bourdieu, is the system of "durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures, that is, as principles which generate and organize practices and representations that can be objectively adapted to their outcomes without presupposing a conscious aiming at ends or an express mastery of the operations necessary in order to attain them. Objectively `regulated' and `regular' without being in any way the product of the organizing action of a conductor." (Bourdieu, 1993) In other words, we are not in control of our own cultural production, but I would like to add, we can be self reflective and articulate our productions. Food, by it very nature forms an integral part of the creation of a Habitus - in a way, despite its controlling characteristics, a Habitus also provides one with a sense of being "home." Sounds, sights and smells are all linked together to give one a sense of identity. American Adobo does nothing less than articulate it to us, the Filipinos and to others for their cultural consumption and hopefully illumination. True to its name, American Adobo tries to pack too many ingredients into one small pan. As a Filipino, I find the film to be a warm, good-natured ethnic comedy and like many others it is deeper than then what you would expect after the initial salvo. What is really nice about American Adobo is that it does not exoticize the Filipino culture, which a film like The Debut can at time be seen to do. The film is very entertaining, but it begins to lose itself as the melodrama takes over from its original comedic track. Inundated with clichés and stilted dialogue, American Adobo does offer a formulaic collection of cinematic issues surround movies of this genre at it explores issued surrounding marital status, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. The real highlight of the film is the insight into a cultural milieu heretofore ignored in mainstream cinema - even mainstream Filipino cinema. If there is a clear cut reason to buy, watch and keep this movie that would be one of them. For those in the cross cultural arena and area of interest, I recommend this movie highly. It is a keeper in every collection. |
 | The Debut DVD ~ Dante Basco: A wicked first feature for director Gene Cajayon, The Debut is sincere albeit predictable. However, having said that, it is predictable only because the theme of the movie is so universal one cannot help but approach it this way. That even the language seems borrowed from similar films is a mark of universality of the cross-cultural experience it deals with. The casting, I think, works really well in the film. Everyone seems to be in sync and keyed subtext of the storyline. Trust me, despite the almost stilted dialogue the film does not betray or is not tacky about exploring subtleties. Don't be fooled, The Debut may seem simple on the surface, is extremely complex underneath its at times cheesy exterior. You will not be disappointed; The Debut is a illuminating as it is fun. It is simple, The Debut is a coming-of-age movie - such movies are universal. OK so it is amateurish in its acting but I think that is one of the reasons it is so appealing - it does not try to be anything it is not. The Debut has drama, music, dance, romance and humor - something for everybody. I guess my only bone to pick is that ends with a pat resolution but once again it is not trying to be Boyz in the Hood or West Side Story. Building a cast around friends and family and then infusing the film with a ton of old school looks a bit like trying to build a Los Angeles Lakers team with Shaq and Kobi at the middle and surrounding them with Malone and Payton - the thing is, like the current Lakers, it works. The Debut works on many levels but it hits home because of its enthusiasm. The Debut is definitely a likeable film but I am certain it will fall off the radar of hard core film buffs. Think of it as a sincere attempt at dealing with coming of age in the Filipino community. We need more of these types of movies to augment our current Hollywood offerings as it gives us a glimpse into cultures. So yes, it is familiar in its theme but it does give us a glimpse into the Filipino American community. Perhaps other communities can take stock and give us glimpse into theirs as well. |
 | Closer
to Home ~ Ann M. Achacoso: What started out with some promise with movies
like Gil M. Portes' Mga Munting Tinig (Small Voices) - depending for sure on one's
expectation level - juxtaposed against other Filipino made or themed movies -
Closer to Home seems a little, well, [viewer can fill in the blank]. If, however,
Closer to Home comes to presence for you without a jaded perspective and you allow
the film to be what it is - then it could be a very illuminating experience. Closer to Home is a series of broken dreams. Caught between a rock and hard place, Dalisay (Madeline Ortaliz) who needs to get her sister a much needed operation is forced to 'sacrifice' herself and is eventually picked up by Dean (John Michael Bolger) who is, in ignorant 'Orientalist' caricature seeking marriage or permanent happiness with a 'Filipino' wife. The two are matched together and the movie is an exploration of what seems like a conspiracy to keep the two apart. The problem is - the two never really seem to have ever been together at all - so we can stop pretending it is a romance. Therein lies one of several issues I see as problematic. First, I found it very difficult to empathize with the characters on any level because they seemed to be inhabiting two very different worlds - or that may have been purposeful by Director and Producer Joseph Nobile - I was never really sure. Second, it has been posited that the movie is a metaphor for a sort of east/west - Philippine/America dichotomy - I doubt THAT was purposeful. I will say this much for Closer to Home - it is unique in that it inhabits a limiinal space: neither Hollywood sappy with a happy ending nor does it situate itself in that sordid realm of Philippine cinema - the ever popular melodramatic or 'bombaa' (that ambiguous exploitation/misogynistic soft core that is so popular with Filipino viewers). For that, if anything, Closer to Home has to be recognized and celebrated. Without a doubt, Closer to Home is a cut above the sigawan-sampalan (screaming and slapping) or even bomba (soft core) that all too often - without waxing moralistic here - liters Filipino cinema. Now, we need to keep in mind that this is not a homegrown movie - it is an American offering. This would explain why it is not 'Filipino' but does it live up to the potential of a gritty film festival level movie? That is another question entirely. If you take Closer to Home purely as text - the read is simple and linear. Does Closer to Home falls within the realm of risky art house? Perhaps not. Despite straying from both a Filipino or a Hollywood formula Closer to Home took no real art house risks. Closer to Home, as mentioned previously, is linear and thats alright. Closer to Home is illuminating in that it aims at a sense of realism and does not pull any punches. In Closer to Home Nobile does not try to window dress the risks embedded or subsumed in mail-order bride situations. Closer to Home had much to offer by way of demystification or de-Ornamentalism (and yes, even de-Orientalism). In Closer to Home there were no clear lines drawn between good and bad. Everyone was both good and bad. It has sort of sunk into common sense understanding that unions of this kind are often one sided and riddled with male centered exploitation, and often end up tragic. Closer to Home is a reification of that notion. So before we start running to embrace Dalisay and paint her as victim, we really need to squarely face that the exploitation is mutual. It was really difficult to feel with or for Dalisay because she showed neither warmth nor possibility towards Dean. Her broken dream was that Dean refused to let her work - not that of a promised romance that failed. It seemed like Dalisay came into this scenario planning for the 'relationship' to fail - so she never allowed it to get started. Granted that this whole scenario is dysfunctional to begin with, it seemed really difficult, despite the personality demise of Dean to paint him as the sole villain and 'poor' defenseless Dalisay as the sole victim. In Closer to Home, everyone is both villain and victim. |
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last updated 27 November 2006
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