Kevin Lee - Week 1 Blog Post

            In “Denationalization Reconsidered: Asian American Cultural Criticism at a Theoretical Crossroads” by Sauling C. Wong, she talks about the perspectives of Asian Americans and how these views are shifting. She analyzes these view in three different changes: 1) cultural nationalist concerns about the changing demographics in the Asian American population; 2) the difference between Asian Americans and Asians, and Asian American Studies and Asian Studies; 3) “the shift from a domestic American to a diasporic perspective.” These three changes pointed out by Wong are significant in determining the connection between Asian Americans and the diasporic community. In class, we talked about many points that related to what Wong was talking about. For example, Professor Valverde asked the class if we considered ourselves Asian American or our specific ethnicity. Majority of the class was the latter. We also talked about what does diaspora mean and who is considered to be part of the diasporic community. Even today, it is hard to tell who is actually part of the diasporic community because the definition of and the views on diaspora constantly changes.

Question: Are Asian Americans considered to be part of the diasporic community? What factors contribute to being part of a diasporic community?

Sauling C. Wong. “Denationalization Reconsidered: Asian American Cultural Criticism at a Theoretical Crossroads.”