Q and a Queer and Asian

Alvin Eng

ISBN 10: 1566396409 / ISBN 13: 9781566396400

Published by Temple University Press,U.S., US, 1998

About this Item

What does it mean to be queer and Asian American at the turn of the century? The writers, activists, essayists, and artists who contribute to this volume consider how Asian American racial identity and queer sexuality interconnect in mutually shaping and complicating ways. Their collective aim (in the words of the editors) is \u0022to articulate a new conception of Asian American racial identity, its heterogeneity, hybridity, and multiplicity -- concepts that after all underpinned the Asian American moniker from its very inception.\u0022 Q and A approaches matters of identity from a variety of points of view and academic disciplines in order to explore the multiple crossings of race and ethnicity with sexuality and gender. Drawing together the work of visual artists, fiction writers, community organizers, scholars, and participants in roundtable discussions, the collection gathers an array of voices and experiences that represent the emerging communities of a queer Asian America.Collectively, these contributors contend that Asian American studies needs to be more attentive to issues of sexuality and that queer studies needs to be more attentive to other aspects of difference, especially race and ethnicity. Vigorously rejecting the notion that a symmetrical relationship between race and homosexuality would weaken lesbian/gay and queer movements, the editors refuse to \u0022believe that a desirably queer world is one in which we remain perpetual aliens -- queer houseguests -- in a queer nation.\u0022.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781566396400

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Q and a Queer and Asian
• Publisher: Temple University Press,U.S., US
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1566396409
• ISBN 13: 9781566396400
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

What did it mean to be queer and Asian American at the turn of the century? This volume considers how Asian American racial and queer sexuality interconnect in mutually shaping and complicating ways.

Reviews

Gay Asian Americans face layers of discrimination in North American society, including homophobia, xenophobia, and racism (and, in the case of women, sexism), compounded by the fact that "Asian" is an ill-defined concept that subsumes distinctive and disparate cultures. Editors Eng (English and comparative literature, Columbia) and Hom have aimed for comprehensiveness in this handsome, large-format volume. But even by the standards of such anthologies, the selections here are exceptionally uneven. The strongest are those that convey the social, cultural, and artistic facets of the gay Asian American experience. Unfortunately, too many of the essays are marred by a tendency to cavil about victimization. Still, the subject is novel, and enough of the authors and artists here express themselves with graphic power and precision to recommend this book for both gay studies and Asian studies collections.ARichard Violette, Special Libraries Cataloging Inc., Victoria, BC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.