In the 1980's, mentioning Asian-American literature in casual conversation was likelier to evoke images of haiku than the stories of Maxine Hong Kingston or the plays of David Henry Hwang.
Today there are programs in Asian-American studies, and books devoted to the literature.
Writers including Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, have stayed on the bestseller list for months on end. Yet, write the editors of A Resource Guide to Asian American Literature, as a scholarly enterprise, Asian-American literature is still developing, still struggling to reach wider audiences, still searching for a firm identity in academe. When experts need to ask and to ask repeatedly, in order to rake the field and keep it vigorous, newcomers must certainly have questions, too. Posing the question is, of course, easier than answering it. In its simplest construction, the editors suggest, Asian-American literature encompasses work written by authors of Asian descent who live in the United States, have racialized histories distinctive to their presence in America, and typically write in English.