Thursday, October 1, 2015

Week 3 - Diasporas and Transnationalism

By Ma. Miguela Soledad Cruz

The “Diaspora, Transnationalism, and Asian American Studies: Positions and Debates,” chapter by Christopher Lee details the various ways scholars are re-imagining the ways in which to stabilize Asian American Studies and Asian experiences all over the world. Lee, too, includes how gender and sexuality fits into this new diasporic perspective through feminist scholars. Additionally, it was interesting to read about how scholars from different disciplines discussed the definition of “diaspora,” and how both globalization and transnationalism greatly influences its ever changing meaning. I find that advances in technology is truly what fuels globalization, which in turn translates to transnationalism, and finally to this emerging diasporic perspective. Today, in school, it seems like we can travel the world with the sharing of stories, cultures and traditions among students and professors. Having ethnic studies has allowed students to connect to their roots, but I do still question, like Lee, the position of Asians in America and the rest of the world as forever travelers.

Question: How beneficial is it really to include diasporic analysis in Asian American studies as a “way to disrupt U.S.-centric nationalism” (32)? 



Sources:

Lee, Christopher. “Diaspora, Transnationalism, and Asian American Studies: Positions and Debates.” Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas. Ed. Wanni W. Anderson and Robert G. Lee. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2005. 23-38. Print.

Knott, Kim. Moving People Changing Places. Lancaster University, 2011. Web. 1 Oct. 2015. 

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