ABSTRACT

The last ten years have witnessed an enormous growth in American interest in Asia and Asian/American history. In particular, a set of key Asian historical moments have recently become the subject of intense American cultural scrutiny, namely China’s Cultural Revolution and its aftermath; the Korean American war and its legacy; the era of Japanese geisha culture and its subsequent decline; and China’s one-child policy and the rise of transracial, international adoption in its wake. Grice examines and accounts for this cultural and literary preoccupation, exploring the corresponding historical-political situations that have both circumscribed and enabled greater cultural and political contact between Asia and America.

chapter |10 pages

Reading Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing

International Encounters

chapter |33 pages

“The Escape From Asia Tradition”

Cultural Revolution Expatriate Memoirs

chapter |23 pages

Contemporary Transracial Adoption Narratives

Prospects and Perspectives

chapter |25 pages

A Secret History

American Representations of Geisha Society