Week 1

Elaine Hong
In Denationalization Reconsidered: Asian American Cultural Criticism at a Theoretical Crossroads by Sau-Ling C. Wong, Wong discusses the incongruity found within Asian American studies due to globalization. She points out three main factors: an increased awareness of historical and cultural events outside the U.S that influenced the people in Asian American studies, a blur in the distinction between Asian and Asian American through the discussion of "parachute kids" (Wong 7), and a discussion of transnationalism and the homeland.

In class, we discussed the people involved in Asian American studies and the variety of backgrounds and narratives they come from. Within Asian American studies, there is an idea to highlight the "American" as a form of justice. Asian Americans deserve the right to be American and to be treated like an American. However, the Asian American population is made up of people some who have global interests or ties to other parts of the world and others who see American as their home. This incongruity creates a rift within the Asian American studies movement in which the definition of diaspora/diasporic communities become confusing. Where is the homeland for a person who identifies as Asian American? Asia or America? What about those who come from a multicultural background? Focusing on the last point Wong makes about ties to the homeland, I wonder, how can a movement be united when people have different views of nationalism?

I appreciate Wong's three main factors in studying global factors and their influence on Asian American Studies. I agree with her and believe that in order Asian American studies to continue progressing, there needs to be constant critical analysis as Asian American Studies continues to grow. Proceeding with caution and remaining aware of global as well as domestic events will keep Asian American Studies
flourishing.

Questions (embedded in paragraph 2)