Synopses & Reviews
How does one capture the delightful irony of Edith Wharton's prose or the spare lyricism of Kate Chopin's? Kathleen Wheeler challenges the reader to experiment with a more imaginative method of literary criticism in order to comprehend more fully writers of the Modernist and late Realist period. In examining the creative works of seven women writers from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Wheeler never lets the mystery and magic of literature be overcome by dry critical analysis.
Modernist Women Writers and Narrative Art begins by evaluating how Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin, and Willa Cather all engaged in an ironic critique of realism. They explored the inadequacies of this form in expressing human experience and revealed its hidden, often contradictory, assumptions. Building on the foundation that Wharton, Chopin, and Cather established, Jean Rhys, Katherine Mansfield, Stevie Smith, and Jane Bowles brought literature into the era we now consider modernism. Drawing on insights from feminist theory, deconstructionism and revisions of new historicism, Kathleen Wheeler reveals a literary tradition rich in narrative strategy and stylistic sophistication.
Review
“Contemporary Asian America addresses pressing issues and theoretical concerns of Asian Americans in the twenty-first century. Its wide range of coverage and high quality in the depth of its analysis make this volume valuable.”
-Esther Ngan-ling Chow,American University
Review
Praise for the first edition:
“An impressive and comprehensive collection of theoretically grounded and historically rich accounts of the Asian American collective and specific experiences. Ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in Asian American Studies.”
-Yen Le Espiritu,author of Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love
Review
“An outstanding collection of essays, representing some of the most insightful work being done in Asian American Studies today. The wide range of topics covered and the quality of the selections, make this an indispensable volume, both in terms of its substantive content and its theoretical sophistication.”
-Lane Ryo Hirabayashi,University of Colorado, Boulder
Review
“Presents a valuable collection of readings that address the complexities of contemporary Asian American communities. Bringing together a wide range of scholars who work in the areas of history, sociology, gender and sexuality studies, critical race theory, transnationalism, and cultural studies, Contemporary Asian America will serve as the standard reader in courses dealing with the issues confronting contemporary Asian America for years to come.”
-K. Scott Wong,co-editor of Claiming America: Constructing Chinese American Identities during the Exclusion Era
Review
“A highly useful collection of readings that trace the topography of contemporary Asian American studies and introduce the major themes and concerns in the field: social movement, immigration policy, racism and racialization, labor, gender and sexuality, and cultural expression. In this ambitious reader, Zhou and Gatewood bring together the histories and contemporary issues facing Asian Americans of different ethnic heritages, generations, and social class backgrounds.”
-Elaine H. Kim,University of California, Berkeley
Synopsis
When
Contemporary Asian America was first published, it exposed its readers to developments within the discipline, from its inception as part of the ethnic consciousness movement of the 1960s to the more contemporary theoretical and practical issues facing Asian America at the century's end.
This new edition features a number of fresh entries and updated material. It covers such topics as Asian American activism, immigration, community formation, family relations, gender roles, sexuality, identity, struggle for social justice, interethnic conflict/coalition, and political participation.
As in the first edition, Contemporary Asian America provides an expansive introduction to the central readings in Asian American Studies, presenting a grounded theoretical orientation to the discipline and framing key historical, cultural, economic, and social themes with a social science focus. This critical text offers a broad overview of Asian American studies and the current state of Asian America.
About the Author
Min Zhou is Professor of Sociology and Founding Chair of the Department of Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of
Chinatown, co-author of
Growing Up American, and co-editor of
Asian American Youth.
J. V. Gatewood is a PhD candidate in American Civilization at Brown University.