Synopses & Reviews
From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express takes readers on a compelling journey from the California Gold Rush to the present, letting readers witness both the profusion of Chinese restaurants across the United States and the evolution of many distinct American-Chinese iconic dishes from chop suey to General Tsoandrsquo;s chicken. Along the way, historian Haiming Liu explains how the immigrants adapted their traditional food to suit local palates, and gives readers a taste of Chinese cuisine embedded in the bittersweet story of Chinese Americans.
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Treating food as a social history, Liu explores why Chinese food changed and how it has influenced American culinary culture, and how Chinese restaurants have become places where shared ethnic identity is affirmedandmdash;not only for Chinese immigrants but also for American Jews. The book also includes a look at national chains like P. F. Changandrsquo;s and a consideration of how Chinese food culture continues to spread around the globe.and#160;
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Drawing from hundreds of historical and contemporary newspaper reports, journal articles, and writings on food in both English and Chinese, From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express represents a groundbreaking piece of scholarly research. It can be enjoyed equally as a fascinating set of stories about Chinese migration, cultural negotiation, race and ethnicity, diverse flavored Chinese cuisine and its share in American food market today.
Review
"To read these essays is to be challenged again and again by some of the brightest minds and most sophisticated political sensibilities at work today. This volume is essential reading."
Review
"A very valuable resource for students and scholars of Asian American and ethnic studies. Highly recommended."
Review
"Pedagogically focused and structured,
Asian American Studies Now underscores the present-day relevance of the field, given the contemporary realities of neoliberal globalization and the post-9/11 security state.
Asian American Studies Now is a return to the field's community-driven roots."
Review
andldquo;Haiming Liu turns the topic of restaurants into a discussion of Chinese American history and explores complex issues concerning race relations and ethnic identity, as well as political and regional affiliations among the Chinese in the United States.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;Liu exercises his considerable talents as a transnational historian to reveal the United States as a culinary crossroads where food and business acumen circulate along many paths across continents and oceansandmdash;a must read.andquot;
Synopsis
Asian American Studies Now represents the changes occurring in Asian American communities and the world that require a reconsideration of how the interdisciplinary field of Asian American studies is defined and taught. The editors have selected essays for the significance of their contribution and their clarity, brevity, and accessibility to readers with little to no prior knowledge of Asian American studies, and feature reprints of seminal articles and groundbreaking texts, as well as bold new scholarship.
Synopsis
An interdisciplinary collection of essays, and historical documents, that introduces readers to the many issues fueling the growth of Asian American Studies
Synopsis
Asian American Studies Now truly represents the enormous changes occurring in Asian American communities and the world, changes that require a reconsideration of how the interdisciplinary field of Asian American studies is defined and taught. This comprehensive anthology, arranged in four parts and featuring a stellar group of contributors, summarizes and defines the current shape of this rapidly changing field, addressing topics such as transnationalism, U.S. imperialism, multiracial identity, racism, immigration, citizenship, social justice, and pedagogy.
Jean Yu-wen Shen Wu and Thomas C. Chen have selected essays for the significance of their contribution to the field and their clarity, brevity, and accessibility to readers with little to no prior knowledge of Asian American studies. Featuring both reprints of seminal articles and groundbreaking texts, as well as bold new scholarship, Asian American Studies Now addresses the new circumstances, new communities, and new concerns that are reconstituting Asian America.
Synopsis
Historian Haiming Liu takes readers on a compelling journey from the California Gold Rush to the present, letting us witness both the profusion of Chinese restaurants across the United States and the evolution of many distinct American-Chinese iconic dishes from chop suey to General Tsoandrsquo;s chicken. Along the way, historian Haiming Liu explains how the immigrants adapted their traditional food to suit local palates, and gives us a taste of Chinese cuisine embedded in the bittersweet story of Chinese Americans.
About the Author
HAIMING LIU is a professor of Asian American studies in the Ethnic and Womenandrsquo;s Studies Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is also the author of
The Transnational History of a Chinese Family: Immigrant Letters, Family Business, and Reverse Migration (Rutgers University Press).
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Situating Asian America
- When and Where I Enter
- Neither Black nor White
- Detroit Blues
- A Dialogue on Racial Melancholia
- Home Is Where the Han Is
- Native Hawaiians: A Quest for Sovereignty
- Situating Asian Americans in the Political Discourse on Affirmative Action
- Racism
Part II: History and Memory - The Chinese Are Coming. How Can We Stop Them?
- Public Health and the Mapping of Chinatown
- The Secret Munson Report
- Asian American Struggles for Civil, Political, Economic, and Social Rights
- Out of the Shadows
- The Cold War Origins of the Model Minority Myth
- Why China? Identifying Histories of Transnational Adoption
- The "Four Prisons" and the Movements of Liberation
Part III: Culture, Politics, and Society - Youth Culture, Citizenship, and Globalization
- Asian Immigrant Women and Global Restructuring, 1970s-1990s
- Medical, Racist, and Colonial Constructions of Power in Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
- Searching for Community
- How to Rehabilitate a Mulatto
- Occult Racism: The Masking of Race in the Hmong Hunter Incident, by A Dialogue between Anthropologist Louisa Schein and Filmmaker/Activist Va-Megn Thoj
- Collateral Damage
Part IV: Pedagogies and Possibilities - Whither Asian American Studies?
- Freedom Schooling
- Asians on the Rim
- Crafting Solidarities
- Will Not Be Used
- The Struggle over Parcel C
- Race Matters in Civic Engagement Work
- Homes, Borders, and Possibilities