Week 7: Lesser - "From Japanese to Nikkei and Back: Integration Strategies of Japanese Immigrants and Their Descendants in Brazil" (Ang, Adrian)

In Jeffrey Lesser's "From Japanese to Nikkei and Back", Lesser talks about how Nikkei have been able to assimilate into the upper echelons of Brazilian society but have also been subject to discrimination and racist sentiments in Brazil as well. While reading this article, I thought about how in the United States, Asian Americans are always subject to being somewhere on the spectrum of Yellow Peril and Model Minority. Based on what the text says about third-generation Japanese Brazilians are typically just referred to as "Japanese" when they identify as Brazilian, this supports the notion that Asians are forever foreign away from the homeland; on the other hand, regarding the idea of the Nikkei being more "Brazilian" than ethnically European Brazilians, this shows that upper- and middle-class Brazilians see the Nikkei as a model minority. Furthermore, while reading about the Shindo Renmei, the Brazilian politicians' decision to handle the situation as a Brazilian matter also shows that the government recognizes the Nikkei as Brazilian citizens. I think that this article relates to this week's theme of Asian as Home(land) because it shows how Asians, generations removed, lose connection to their "homeland" and demand for a space in their host country, which they see as home. While I am not by any means an expert on racial relations in Brazil, I hear that racial divisions are less overt and more institutional there than here in the United States. After reading about the Nikkei in Brazil, I pose the questions: what are the differences in how Nikkei are perceived in Brazil in comparison to the Nikkei in the United States? In what ways do Nikkei in Brazil maintain a stronger connection to their home country than Nikkei in the United States and how is this fostered? What the United States learn from Brazil in racial relations?

Liberdade, the historically Japanese neighborhood in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sources:
Jeffrey Lesser. "From Japanese to Nikkei and Back: Integration Strategies of Japanese Immigrants and Their Descendants in Brazil"
http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/liberdade.jpg

Kevin Lee- Blog Post #7

            In Jeffrey Lesser’s chapter “From Japanese to Nikkei and Back: Integration Strategies of Japanese Immigrants and Their Descendants in Brazil,” Lesser talks about the Nikkei, or Japanese diaspora, in Brazil and how they try to embrace the “Brazilian” part of their ethnicity. Nikkei in Brazil embraced their Brazilian identity, this making them multicultural. This would be the first step of an Asian diasporic community accepting the “whiteness” of their identity. Nikkei shows that it is possible for Asian diasporas to accept multiple ethnic identities. However, the negative of this is the model minority stereotype. Lesser states, “We need more Brazilians like this Japanese… Japanese are the best possible Brazilians: honest, hard-working, and well-connected” (Displacements 119). This statements shows that Brazil sees Nikkei as a model minority whose example should be followed. Even though Nikkei accepts their Brazilian identity, Brazil may not necessarily accept Nikkei into their national identity, thus still creating a rift between the two.

Question: Will Nikkei ever be officially accepted into the Brazilian national identity? Will accepting one’s “whiteness” allow for recognition in the dominant community?

Work Cited:

Lesser, J. (2005). From Japanese to Nikkei and Back. In W. W. Anderson & R. G. Lee (Eds.), Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas (pp. 112-121). New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

http://japanfocus.org/data/japanese_brazilians.png

Week 7 - Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics, and the Materializing of Memory by Louisa Schein - Jimmy Tran

Jimmy Tran

Caroline Kieu Linh Valverde

ASA114

23 October 2015

       In “Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics, and the Materializing of Memory” by Louisa Schein, she does a good job of talking about Hmong American issues that’s are quite relevant and true in today’s society. It is true that tourists are still very much engaged in the company of local young women which causes great dislike for them. Sex is a big issue for the Hmong community because it is a metaphor for sensuality. Additionally, this causes questions in the diasporic community because it raises issues in sexuality. One interesting point that the article brings up is the term “Miao.” This terms hits a sensitive spot for the Hmong community because it is a derogatory term used by the ethnic Han which is very important because it causes discomfort when individuals are reminded of their home and the harsh conditions that their ancestors been through.

 

How does the term “Miao” offend Hmong Americans today compared to the way it was used back then?

Works Cited

http://www.youthincharge.org/2013/12/the-changing-of-the-hmong-culture-in-the-u-s/

Schein, Louisa, "Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics and the Materializing of Memory." 1999. Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique7(3): 697-729.