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13 - Coming to America, “Land of the Free”

Asian American Representations in Graphic Narrative

from Part II - Graphic Novels and the Quest for an American Diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2024

Jan Baetens
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
Hugo Frey
Affiliation:
University of Chichester
Fabrice Leroy
Affiliation:
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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Summary

Stories of Asian immigration to North America have developed a series of recognizable tropes, from exile for economic or political reasons to arrival and the subsequent struggles of discrimination, assimilation, and self-identity. This chapter identifies the preferred themes of graphic novel publishers, who continue to seek and legitimize a familiar model of Asian American narrative: that of origin and identity stories, often autobiographical in nature, in which authors grapple with assimilation difficulties and express identity challenges, notably when self-acceptance and community acceptance are not always aligned (e.g., in celebrated works by Adrian Tomine and Gene Luen Yang). The chapter also considers other types of narratives: family stories in which a mixed heritage challenges social norms (Lynda Barry), graphic memoirs from second-generation Asian Americans on their immigrant mothers and their cultural transition, and refugee narratives from authors of the Vietnamese diaspora who reflect on the Vietnam War and the perilous immigration of “boat people.”

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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