New and Notable Books
February 28, 2003
Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites
By Jeffery F. Burton, Mary M. Farrell, Florence B. Lord and Richard W. Lord (University of Washington Press: The Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies)
Extremely timely title, especially with impending war upon us, that offers “an overview of the tangible remains currently left at the sites of the Japanese American internment during World War II.” Includes an amazing essay, “To Undo a Mistake is Always Harder Than Not to Create One Originally,” from none other than Eleanor Roosevelt, who published the piece in 1943 after visiting the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona.
Inventing Japan: 1853-1964
By Ian Buruma (Modern Library/Random House)
From Commodore Perry’s “opening” of Japanese ports to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when the Japanese shocked the world by winning 16 gold medals, a lively look at the rise of modern Japan.
Amerasia Journal: 30th Anniversary Cumulative Index
Compiled by Yen Le Espiritu, Ellen Wu and Stephen Lee (UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press)
The field of Asian American Studies couldn’t possibly be what it is today without Amerasia Journal, which faithfully recorded, illuminated and supported the movement for three decades. May it have immortal life.
Cinema of Interruptions: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinema
By Lalitha Gopalan (British Film Institute, distributed by University of California Press)
With the growing presence of Indian film titles, a timely primer on how Bollywood (thankfully) is certainly not Hollywood.
Multiple Modernities: Cinemas and Popular Media in Transcultural East Asia
Edited by Jenny Kwok Wah Lau (Temple University Press)
The concept of “Western modernity” traveling east throughout Asia, as it is reflected in the contemporary cinemas of Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Contemporary Korean Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics
By Hyangjin Lee (Manchester University Press, distributed by Palgrave)
Socio-historic summary of Korean cinema though films of three periods: pre-separation between North and South and the Japanese occupation, North/South division and the post-war reality of a divided people.
Fashion Victim: Our Love-Hate Relationship with Dressing, Shopping, and the Cost of Style
By Michelle Lee (Broadway Books/Bantam Doubleday Dell)
While it may not keep you away from the malls and chic-chic boutiques, it may at least make you think twice about what you’re buying … the fashion-world exposé for every shopaholic in your life!
Entry Denied: Controlling Sexuality at the Border
By Eithne Luibhéid (University of Minnesota Press)
Provocative, though rather academic study of immigration controls based on gender — from turn-of-the-century Chinese prostitutes to present-day homosexuals.
Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy
Edited by Don T. Nakanishi and James S. Lai (Rowman and Littlefield)
A comprehensive overview of the history of Asian American politics, from the early historical cases of the first Asian immigrants against exclusion, to significant immigration law changes in 1924 (which virtually shut down Asian immigration) and 1965 (which finally opened Asian immigration after nearly a century), to Civil Rights-era APA participation, to today’s political challenges.
Six Girls Without Pants: Poems
By Paisley Rekdal (Eastern Washington University Press)
From the author of the fabulous memoir The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee about growing up hapa, a new collection of irreverent, irresistible, humorous, heart-breaking poems.
Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream 1899-1999
Edited by Angel Velasco Shaw and Luis H. Francia (NYU Press)
An overwhelming, necessary, eye-witnessing anthology of the legacy of a century of colonial — political, economic and especially social — occupation of the Philippines by the United States.
Goodbye Tsugumi
By Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Michael Emmerich (Grove Press)
Another quirky tale — a love story of sorts — from Japan’s favorite Gen-Xer, this time about two extremely different cousins who spend a summer together by the seashore.
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