ABSTRACT
Asian diaspora poetry in North America is a rich body of poetic works which, on the one hand, provides valuable materials for us to understand the lives and experiences of Asian diasporas and, on the other, offers us an opportunity to examine some of the most important issues in current literary and cultural studies. As a mode of writing across cultural and national borders, these poetic works challenge us to reconsider the assumptions and meanings of identity, nation, home, place and memory in a broad cross-cultural context. In recent critical inquiries, diaspora has been conceived not only as a process of migration in which people crossed and traversed the borders of different countries, but also as a double relationship between different cultural homes/origins. The reconceptualization of diaspora as a relationship, according to Smadar Lavie and Ted Swedenburg, enables us to “understand the dynamics of transnational cultural and economic processes, as well as to
challenge the conceptual limits imposed by national and ethnic/racial boundaries” (1996, 14). With all its complexity and ambiguity associated with the experience of multicultural mediation, diaspora, as both a process and a relationship, suggests an act of constant repositioning in confluent streams that accommodate multiple cultural traditions. By examining how Asian diaspora poets maintain and represent their cultural differences in North America, we will seek new perspectives for understanding and analyzing the development of Asian cultural heritages that survive persistently and change constantly in American and Canadian societies. This book, therefore, will offer a fresh point of departure for our exploration of how Asian diaspora poetry plays a significant role in mediating and defining cross-cultural and transnational positions.
