Sarah Feldberg
“Yellowface” startled me with its accounts of the extremely racist National Review cover story of ’96. I was twelve when this issue hit newsstands and totally unaware of its existence. I’ve also encountered plenty of overt and covert racism (in school and other institutional settings), and I don’t think I’m especially naïve about “race relations” in the U.S. Nevertheless, I think of the eighties and nineties as times of relative public caution and “political correctness”, so I was slightly surprised by the vitriol of the National Review cartoon and cover story. I also noticed that Gene Luen Yang named the fictional high school of American Born Chinese after Pat Oliphant, the cartoonist responsible for the offensive cover. Sheng-Ma’s frustration with representations of Asian Americans in literature, fiction, and various products of mass-culture energizes the introduction to The Deathly Embrace.
Jean Dao
The material presented in the readings and documentary both extrapolate upon ideas and emotions I felt growing up as an Asian American, as well as humble some of my behaviors and beliefs. I feel enlightened yet confused all at once; confused mostly because of Said, frustrated that injustices, racism, and discrimination toward Asian Americans still exists today, and most of all, anxious to change the devastatingly skewed Western concept of “the Oriental.” Lee, Said, and Ma all touched upon the same idea that the Oriental and the Asian American share a common ancestry, and most likely a “stormy marriage” in the future. This idea terrifies me, especially since each writer takes it upon himself to detail just how inaccurate and deplorable the Western/American image is of “the Oriental”. They site example after example, and condemn the actions of various historical figures, celebrities, and fellow writers in perpetuating the already discrepant image. I find myself agreeing with Ma in his analysis that “…Asian American writers often worked under, and…unconsciously collaborated with Western distortions of the East,” particularly Amy Tan. She has churned out book after book that, at first pass, seem to represent a “real” Asian American. However, under close scrutiny, each story more closely portrays the Western distortion of Asian culture.
Anna Sophia Moran
Both Robert Lee and Sheng-mei Ma wrote about how the Asian American individual and family is perceived as models and an economic threat to the rest of society. Perhaps Orientalism is practiced in order to tackle this threat and is an attempt to degrade Asian culture and community. There are many consequences to the historical and contemporary practice of Orientalism against the Asian American community that are present in today’s society. Eugene Yang’s American Born Chinese, explores these consequences in a very humorous yet enlightening way. All of the protagonists in the different stories (the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny) are all victimized by the negative stereotypes that have emerged from Oriental practices. As a result, these characters try to avoid their true selves and are internally conflicted.
Aldo Betancur
Cultural representations and stereotypes are a staple of the society in which we live in today. Even though I was aware of Orientalism and Asian American stereotypes, I never really thought much about them. The readings shed light on the racial stereotypes and cultural conflicts that Asian Americans encounter in today’s society. The film, The Slanted Screen, points out the fact that there are hardly any leading roles for Asians in Hollywood, and that Asians are forced to play stereotypical roles in movies. Some of the most notable Asian actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Lee, and the great Bruce Lee, represent the stereotypic image of Asians as martial artists. I believe that even though stereotypes do evolve from some type of truth, it’s hard to believe how many stereotypical roles Asians withhold in Hollywood.
Marian Stacey
The Slanted Screen is a fascinating look into how a dominant culture can attempt to define another culture, and shows Orientalism to be a racist construction that is still perpetuated. The term Oriental is based on the fact that Europe had no choice but to accept that Asian cultures were just as advanced as they were, but European views hinted that Asian nations had a moral bankruptcy and awkwardness which the Europeans had a duty to redirect. The colonization of China, Vietnam, India, and the Middle East has left scars all across history, and have invaded the American psyche in a damaging way. I can think of no better example than that of Chin-Kee who is Danny’s mysterious cousin. He is the culmination of many stereotypes; he dresses as if he somehow missed the announcement that the railroads to California were completed, he eats cats and dogs indiscriminately, he is nothing but awkward toward “Amelican women,” just as mischievous as Puck, and on top of it all, he is highly intellectual.
Dan Parker
Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, literally illustrates Said’s complex position utilizing a series of racial stereotypes and pidgin dialect, while presenting it in a simplistic style. This allows the reader to reflect upon the inward struggle of the main characters, thereby increasing its accessibility to all audiences. Yang opens the novel with the legend of the Monkey King to suspend the reader’s disbelief. By placing the reader in an entirely new reality, the author successfully disarms any culturally created preconceptions, and allows the reader to be an unbiased observer. The Monkey King sketch reflects the ethnic American’s struggle to overcome occupational oppression, the Jin Wang segment serves as the struggle to find one’s cultural identity in the midst of an internal ethnic battle, and the Chin-Kee piece depicts the product of all combined Asian stereotypes. By intertwining these three tales into one story, Yang creatively, comically, and effectively portrays Said’s Orientalism, while applying Sheng-mei Ma’s notion of evoking the stereotype to destroy it and to construct a new ethnic identity.
Tin-Yan Chan
The perception of Asians in the western world seems to be expressed mainly through westerners who know little about the real culture and history of Asians. Asian American history is one of the least studied by students in America. One rarely learns about the railroads in California, or the Chinese Exclusion Act. The little knowledge many Americans have about Asian Americans is conveyed through the media, where Asians are many times perceived negatively or stereotypically. Such representations leave many Asians born in America confused and disoriented like Jin Wen in Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese. Orientalism is the study of the Orient by Westerners. Although this seems like an effective and better way of spreading Asian history in the West, specifically in Europe, the information is biased and skewed toward Western perspectives and ideals.
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