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BANANA
BENDING:
ASIAN-AUSTRALIAN AND ASIAN-CANADIAN LITERATURES
Tseen-Ling Khoo
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This is the first book to present a comparative reading of East Asian-Australian and East Asian-Canadian novels while addressing the literary and political cultures of Australia and Canada. The book examines the limits and possibilities for these diasporic literatures in multicultural societies and their placement in relation to national literatures. Issues discussed in the book include: citizenship/belonging, community, tensions in gender/ sexuality, and recycling traditional folklore for contemporary situations. |
Banana Bending offers new perspectives on Australian and Canadian life and society, addressing contemporary anxieties about citizenship, cohesion in multicultural communities, ideas of 'homeland,' and the cultural potential of the 'melting pot.' The author offers extensive background information so that those unfamiliar with either Australian or Canadian material can quickly acquaint themselves with the necessary contexts as well as delving further into their details.
Its comparative approach offers a unique way to deal with issues of diasporic 'asian-ness' and national stereotypes. The book also provides a useful counterpoint to recent discussions of Asian-American literature.
"Tseen Khoo offers a fascinating
and insightful study of the politics and poetics of literary production
by Asian-Australian and Asian-Canadian writers and image-makers. The
comparative methodology, (including the contrasts made to the Asian-American
context) usefully resituates debates about nationalism, cultural policies
and diasporic histories away from narrow nationalist frameworks to afford
a more global perspective."
Dr Jacqueline Lo, School of Humanities, Australian National
University, Australia
"This is an original and
timely contribution to debates in diasporic Asian literatures. The author
knows her Australian material extremely well and situates these within
important and very relevant discussions concerning both cultural and
political issues. The comparisons with Canada (and to some degree Asian
American material) are also very well-informed. Overall, the book is
a pleasure to read."
Professor Sneja
Gunew, Professor of English and Women's Studies, University of British
Columbia, Canada
ORDERING DETAILS:
You can order online at the official HKUP site for Banana Bending.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Introduction | |
| 1. "A Chink in the Armour": Asian-Australian Space | |
| 2. "Spitting in the Soup": Asian-Canadian Space | |
| 3. Colouring In: Possibilities of Nationalism in Diaspora | |
| 4. "At Home in Your Embarrassment": Boundaries of Community and Ethnicity | |
| 5. Patriotism, War, and Other National Desires: Asian Masculinities in Progress | |
| 6. Emerging Extravagance in Diasporic Asian Women's Writing | |
| Conclusion | |
| Notes Bibliography Index |