| Euro-American writers tended to project their fears, contempt, desires and fantasy onto the Other race and perceived Chinese Americans in stereotypes--dangerous villains, unassimilated aliens, quiet and passive servants, sexually submissive women, or seductive prostitutes. Until the 1960s, for the consideration of the market, many Chinese American writings also conformed to the stereotypical and romanticized visions of Chinese American community. Due to the Civil Rights movements, Chinese Americans began to assert their cultural identity in contrast to cultural stereotypes.; This study is to compare during the 1970s and the 1980s the ways Euro-American novelists characterize Chinese Americans and the ways Chinese American novelists portray their immigrant ancestors and their current community. I will use socio-historical approach to the literary texts. Part One introduces the historical background and cultural representations of Chinese Americans in Euro-American and Chinese American fiction from the nineteenth century to the 1960s. Part Two analyzes the novels by six Euro-American writers, 1970-1989: Joe Gores' Hammett, John Keeble's Yellowfish, Robert Daley's Year of the Dragon, R.H. Shimer's The Cricket Cage, Howard Fast's The Immigrants, and Monica Highland's Lotus Land. Recent Euro-American writings reveal certain changes in their depictions of Chinese American characters, but stereotypes about Chinese Americans still prevail in these novels.; Part Three discusses the works by six Chinese American novelists, 1970-1989: Shawn Wong's Homebase, Frank Chin's The Chinaman Pacific & Frisco R.R. Co., David Wong Louie's "Displacement," Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, Ruthanne Lum McCunn's Thousand Pieces of Gold, and Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. Recent Chinese-American novelists challenge Euro-American writers' stereotyping of Chinese Americans as well as the romantic world views of earlier Chinese American writers. They celebrate their rich heritage and positive contributions of their immigrant ancestors to this country, claim America as their own, define themselves as aggressive and articulate, fight against racism and sexism, and portray the realistic pictures (the diversity and complexity) of their community. Though they share several similar themes, gender politics has divided many Chinese American male and female writers, especially Kingston's feminism vs. Chin's heroism. |
