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 andOzeki'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.

Brings attention to the ecocritical potential of Asian American writing Contributes to the study of race and nature Addresses important narratives within Asian American culture and literature including nationalism and immigration, internment, and transnationalism

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.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Prelude Entering Nature's Nation.- Chapter 3: Naturalizing Asian Americans: Edith Eaton.- Chapter 4: Thinking (Like a) Gold Mountain: Maxine Hong Kingston and Shawn Wong.- Chapter 5: Cultivating the Anti-Campo: An Environmental Reading of Internment Literature.- Chapter 6: Facing the End of Nature: Karen Tei Yamashita and Ruth Ozeki.- Chapter 7: Coda: Gold Mountains, Weedflowers and Murky Globes.