Ecocriticism and Asian American Literature: Gold Mountains, Weedflowers and Murky Globes offers an ecocritical reinterpretation of Asian American literature. The book considers more than a century of Asian American writing, from Eaton's Mrs. Spring Fragrance (1912) to Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being (2013), through an ecocritical lens. The volume explores the most relevant landmarks in Asian American literature: the first-contact narratives written by Bulosan, Kingston, Mukherjee and Jen; the controversial texts published by Sui Sin Far (Edith Eaton) at the time of the Yellow Peril; the rise of cultural nationalism in the 1970s and 1980s, illustrated by Wong's Homebase and Kingston's China Men; old and recent examples of "internment literature" dealing with the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII (Sone, Houston, Miyake, Kadohata); and the new trends in Asian American literature since the 1990s, exemplified by Yamashita's and Ozeki's novels, which explore the challenges of our transnational, transnatural era. Begoña Simal-González's ecocritical readings of these texts provide crucial interdisciplinary insights, addressing and analyzing important narratives within Asian American culture and literature.

Autorentext

Begoña Simal-González is Professor and Head of the American Studies Research Group (CLEU), at the Universidade da Coruña, Spain. Her research focuses on Asian American literature, globalization and ecocriticism. 

Zusammenfassung

Ecocriticism and Asian American Literature: Gold Mountains, Weedflowers, and Murky Globes offers an ecocritical reinterpretation of Asian American literature. The book considers more than a century of Asian American writing, from Eaton's Mrs. Spring Fragrance (1912) to Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being (2013), through an ecocritical lens*.* The volume explores the most relevant landmarks in Asian American literature: the first-contact narratives written by Bulosan, Kingston, Mukherjee, and Jen; the controversial texts published by Sui Sin Far (Edith Eaton) at the time of the Yellow Peril; the rise of cultural nationalism in the 1970s and 1980s, illustrated by Wong's Homebase and Kingston's China Men; old and recent examples of internment literature dealing with the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII (Sone, Houston, Miyake, Kadohata); and the new trends in Asian American literature since the 1990s, exemplified by Yamashita's and Ozeki's novels, which explore the challenges of our transnational, transnatural era. Begoña Simal-González's ecocritical readings of these texts provide crucial interdisciplinary insights, addressing and analyzing important narratives within Asian American culture and literature. ****

Inhalt

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION                                                                                     1

1.1 ECOCRITICISM: SURVEYING THE FIELD           ********

1.2 RACIALIZED OTHERS: THE ONES LEFT OUT    ********

Chapter 2: PRELUDE entering nature's nation                                           29

CHAPTER 3: Naturalizing Asian Americans: Edith Eaton                         47

**3.**1. Native / Nativism          ********

3.2. Native / Nature / Naturalization         ********

3.3. Naturalization / Animalization: Pets and Pests           ********

3.3.1. Pets and curiosities ************

3.3.2. Pests: The Yellow Peril**           ** ********

3.4. Edith Eaton's Limited Options ********

3.5. Eaton's Fauna: Resisting Naturalization     ********

3.6. Eaton's Flora: Benevolent Naturalization ********

3.7. The Quandary of Racist Animalization             ****

CHAPTER 4: Thinking (like a) Gold Mountain: Maxine Hong Kingston and Shawn Wong                                                                           93

  **4...