Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- 16 The Emergence of Asian American Literature as an Academic Field
- 17 Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and the Impact of Theory
- 18 Heterogeneity to Multiplicity: Building Asian American Literary Critique
- 19 Whose Asias?
- 20 The South Asian American Challenge
- 21 Contemporary Filipino American Writers and the Legacy of Imperialism
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
17 - Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and the Impact of Theory
from Part IV - Canons
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2015
By
Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- 16 The Emergence of Asian American Literature as an Academic Field
- 17 Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and the Impact of Theory
- 18 Heterogeneity to Multiplicity: Building Asian American Literary Critique
- 19 Whose Asias?
- 20 The South Asian American Challenge
- 21 Contemporary Filipino American Writers and the Legacy of Imperialism
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The ascent of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictée into the Asian American literary canon in the early 1990s marks the precise moment when theory enters into Asian American studies. While Dictée has often been read as exemplary of a move away from identity toward theoretical abstraction, it may be more accurate to view it as a divided text that moves ambivalently between the needs of identity politics and the demands of theoretical critique. Early publications and anthologies drew on a range of disciplinary methodologies, while also being influenced by the radical politics of the Asian American movement. The readings of Dictée advanced in Writing Self, Writing Nation brings Asian American studies into direct contact with theory. In these readings, the impact of theory, both in Dictée and in its interpretation, is primarily deconstructive, challenging the narratives of identity, unity, and nationalism that have formed the traditional basis for Asian American studies.
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- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature , pp. 306 - 323Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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