Ecocriticism and Asian American Literature

Ecocriticism and Asian American Literature: Gold Mountains, Weedflowers and Murky Globes offers an ecocritical reinterpretation of Asian American literature. The book considers more than a century of Asian American writing, from Eaton's Mrs. Spring Fragrance (1912) to Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being (2013), through an ecocritical lens. The volume explores the most relevant landmarks in Asian American literature: the first-contact narratives written by Bulosan, Kingston, Mukherjee and Jen; the controversial texts published by Sui Sin Far (Edith Eaton) at the time of the Yellow Peril; the rise of cultural nationalism in the 1970s and 1980s, illustrated by Wong's Homebase and Kingston's China Men; old and recent examples of "internment literature" dealing with the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII (Sone, Houston, Miyake, Kadohata); and the new trends in Asian American literature since the 1990s, exemplified by Yamashita's and Ozeki's novels, which explore the challenges of our transnational, transnatural era. Begoña Simal-González's ecocritical readings of these texts provide crucial interdisciplinary insights, addressing and analyzing important narratives within Asian American culture and literature.

Auteur

Begoña Simal-González is Professor and Head of the American Studies Research Group (CLEU), at the Universidade da Coruña, Spain. Her research focuses on Asian American literature, globalization and ecocriticism.

Résumé

Ecocriticism and Asian American Literature: Gold Mountains, Weedflowers, and Murky Globes offers an ecocritical reinterpretation of Asian American literature. The book considers more than a century of Asian American writing, from Eaton's Mrs. Spring Fragrance (1912) to Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being (2013), through an ecocritical lens. The volume explores the most relevant landmarks in Asian American literature: the first-contact narratives written by Bulosan, Kingston, Mukherjee, and Jen; the controversial texts published by Sui Sin Far (Edith Eaton) at the time of the Yellow Peril; the rise of cultural nationalism in the 1970s and 1980s, illustrated by Wong's Homebase and Kingston's China Men; old and recent examples of internment literature dealing with the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII (Sone, Houston, Miyake, Kadohata); and the new trends in Asian American literature since the 1990s, exemplified by Yamashita's and Ozeki's novels, which explore the challenges of our transnational, transnatural era. Begoña Simal-González's ecocritical readings of these texts provide crucial interdisciplinary insights, addressing and analyzing important narratives within Asian American culture and literature.

Contenu

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 ECOCRITICISM: SURVEYING THE FIELD

1.2 RACIALIZED OTHERS: THE ONES LEFT OUT

Chapter 2: PRELUDE entering nature's nation 29

CHAPTER 3: Naturalizing Asian Americans: Edith Eaton 47

3.1. Native / Nativism

3.2. Native / Nature / Naturalization

3.3. Naturalization / Animalization: Pets and Pests

3.3.1. Pets and curiosities

3.3.2. Pests: The Yellow Peril

3.4. Edith Eaton's Limited Options

3.5. Eaton's Fauna: Resisting Naturalization

3.6. Eaton's Flora: Benevolent Naturalization

3.7. The Quandary of Racist Animalization

CHAPTER 4: Thinking (like a) Gold Mountain: Maxine Hong Kingston and Shawn Wong 93

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