Title: "So there it is" : an exploration of cultural hybridity in contemporary Asian American poetry /
Authors: Wallinger-Schorn, Brigitte.
Publisher: New York : Rodopi,
Year: 2011
Subjects: American poetry Asian American authors; Cultural fusion.; Ethnische Identität.; Kulturelle Identität.; Lyrik.; Asiaten.; USA.
Abstract: "In interpreting contemporary Asian American poetry, it is important to understand the cultural hybridity of Asian America identity, located at the interstices of the fixed identifications 'American', 'Asian American', and 'Asian'. This rootedness in more than one culture exposes the inapplicability of binary concepts (foreigner/national, etc.). Hybridity, opposing essentialism and 'the original', favors multivocality and ambivalence. The exploration of Asian American cultural hybridity is linked both to material realities and poetic manifestations. Asian American hybrid subjectivity is explored through in-depth interpretations of works from well-established contemporary poets such as Kimiko Hahn, Marilyn Chin, Li-Young Lee, and Arthur Sze, as well as that of many new talents and hitherto neglected writers.^
Contents: Acknowledgements -- Introduction. Historical contexts -- The Asian American community: stereotypes, (in)visibility, heterogeneity -- Cultural hybridity. Asian American subjectivity -- Hybridity theory -- Cultural hybridity in Asian America -- The Asian American aesthetic and poetic tradition -- Linguistic hybridity. Translating tongues -- Dismantling the master's code -- Narrative hybridity. Tracing identities -- Political positionings -- Formal hybridity. Asian formalism --European forms -- Conclusion -- Works cited -- Appendix: interviews. Interviews with Kimiko Hahn -- Interview with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.