Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- 1 The Origins of Chinese American Autobiography
- 2 Stage Orientalism and Asian American Performance from the Nineteenth into the Twentieth Century
- 3 “I Seek Out Poems Now Incomplete”: Writing from the Angel Island Immigration Station
- 4 The Eaton Sisters and the Figure of the Eurasian
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Eaton Sisters and the Figure of the Eurasian
from Part I - Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- 1 The Origins of Chinese American Autobiography
- 2 Stage Orientalism and Asian American Performance from the Nineteenth into the Twentieth Century
- 3 “I Seek Out Poems Now Incomplete”: Writing from the Angel Island Immigration Station
- 4 The Eaton Sisters and the Figure of the Eurasian
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter talks about the four Eaton sisters namely Edith, Grace, Sara and Winnifred, who contest the prejudices and social injustices they saw around them, each in her own way leaving a lasting mark on the history of American letters. It pays special attention to their articulation of a distinct Eurasian voice in their texts, focusing on the works of Edith and Winnifred, who were among the earliest Eurasian writers in North America to publish on the subject of East-West interracialism. The place of the Eaton sisters in the history of North American letters, and their legacy for the struggle for equity and inclusion, are best appreciated from the multiple vantage points of Asian American studies, mixed-race studies, and women's studies. Even as the Eaton children were profoundly affected by anti-Chinese racism growing up, the early-twentieth-century rage for Orientalism provided them with a ready market for publishing.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature , pp. 88 - 104Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015