Encounters: People of Asian Descent in the Americas

(Paperback)

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Description

People of Asian descent have lived for centuries in North and South America, where they have been actively involved in the creation of multicultural, multiethnic societies. This groundbreaking anthology explores their experiences among ethnic and cultural groups in a unique collection of works by and about Asian Americans. Utilizing a rich blend of analytical, autobiographical, biographical, and narrative essays, oral histories, fiction, photography, and artwork, the anthology focuses especially on the interactions of Asians with others outside the dominant culture. Contributors range from established scholars, writers and artists to little-known voices heard here for the first time. Scholars of Asian diasporas and all readers interested in Asia in the Americas will find this book an extraordinary resource.

Contributions by: Kozy K. Amemiya, Himani Bannerji, Monica Cinco Basurto, Raissa Nina Burns, Jeff Chang, Jay Chaudhari, Kathryn Jeun Cho, Rienzi Crusz, Astrid Hadad, Laura Hall, Muriel H. Hasbun, Tomoyo Hiroishi, Velina Hasu Houston, Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Naheed Islam, Feroza Jussawalla, Nguyet Lam, Armando Siu Lau, Stephanie Li, R. Zamora Linmark, Sunaina Maira, Diane Monroe, Ofelia Murrieta, Luis Nishizawa, Dwight Okita, Gary Pak, Monica J. Rainwater, Aly Remtulla, Roshni Rustomji-Kerns, Ann Suni Shin, Jan Lo Shinebourne, Janet Shirley, Lok C. D. Siu, Rajini Srikanth, Leny Mendoza Strobel, Eileen Tabios, Ayumi Takenaka, Gabriela Kinuyo Torres, Kay Reiko Torres, Takeyuki Tsuda, Usha Welaratna, Bill Woo, Karen Tei Yamashita, and Thomas Sze Leong Yu.

Reviews

A compilation of scholarly essays, personal testimonials, family histories, and literary and artistic works, Encounters invites us to share the everyday experiences of persons of Asian descent in Latin America and the United States. Provocative and powerful, materials in this volume offer multiple challenges to social stereotype, ideological preconception, and a good deal of academic theory. A significant contribution to our understanding of cross-cultural interaction in a globalizing age. -- Peter H. Smith, University of California, San Diego
For the Asian in the Americas, notions of home and narratives of history change with ones vantage point and knowledge. Encounters: People of Asian Descent in the Americas provides a vibrant complexity and humanity to the diverse experiences of Asians in the Americas. Roshni Rustomji-Kerns thoughtful essay recognizes that 'different configurations of ethnicities, races, languages, and art as lived by individuals from Asia in different areas of the Americas' question current premises around Asian American, diasporic, global, Pacific Rim, and postcolonial studies. This is a collection that welcomes the future with a new vision. -- Russell C. Leong, University of California, Los Angeles
Challenges readers to move beyond the neat categories established by previous and current studies of ethnic experiences in the United States. . . . Fertile ground for new explorations on how people of Asian descent interact with other non-dominant groups in the Americas; how they define themselves; and how they mediate the challenges of different cultural forces. -- Carina A. del Rosario * Pacific Reader *
Encounters provides a multifaceted comparative and theoretical framework that is not only highly innovative, but which is a valuable contribution to diaspora studies. * Journal Of English and American Studies *
Encounters is a fitting tribute to all peoples, especially peoples of Asian descent, who have made the courageous decision to leave familiar places for a better life. * Amerasia Journal *
This anthology specifically strives to fill the subjective spaces ignored by or unknown to mainstream theories about the Asian American experience. It is concerned with the hemispheric diversity of Asian voices, with minority-minority relations, with differing minority encounters with the dominant majority culture. It thus fills a void that exists between received theories and lived experiences and uncovers new angles of vision and experience. -- Walton Look Lai, University of the West Indies

Author Bio

Roshni Rustomji-Kerns is professor emerita at Sonoma State University and a visiting scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies, Bolivar House, at Stanford University. She is coeditor of Blood Into Ink: South Asian and Middle Eastern Women Write War and editor of Living in America: Fiction and Poetry by South Asian Writers.