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
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- 16 The Emergence of Asian American Literature as an Academic Field
- 17 Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and the Impact of Theory
- 18 Heterogeneity to Multiplicity: Building Asian American Literary Critique
- 19 Whose Asias?
- 20 The South Asian American Challenge
- 21 Contemporary Filipino American Writers and the Legacy of Imperialism
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
18 - Heterogeneity to Multiplicity: Building Asian American Literary Critique
from Part IV - Canons
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
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- 16 The Emergence of Asian American Literature as an Academic Field
- 17 Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and the Impact of Theory
- 18 Heterogeneity to Multiplicity: Building Asian American Literary Critique
- 19 Whose Asias?
- 20 The South Asian American Challenge
- 21 Contemporary Filipino American Writers and the Legacy of Imperialism
- 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 explores why Lisa Lowe's essay on Heterogeneity, Hybridity, Multiplicity: Asian American Differences, from her book Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics, and its related focus on clearing a space for diaspora and transnationalism, was so instrumental in creating a paradigmatic shift in the ways in which literary scholars approached questions of inclusions and exclusion within Asian American studies. It explores why this essay struck such a responsive chord among Asian Americanist scholars and writers. While the conceptual framework that Lowe advanced in heterogeneity, hybridity and multiplicity has been foundational within Asian American literary studies, it is also notable for ushering in new forms of critique. In an increasingly neoliberal moment, there is an ever-likely danger of further homogenization of the Asian subject. Lowe's essay serves as an important reminder of the need for literary critique to think through the structuring differences of heterogeneity, hybridity, and multiplicity.
Keywords
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature , pp. 324 - 338Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015