Paper Families and Absent Motherhood

This chapter discusses the different ways in which literary depictions of Chinese American paper families can subvert the heteronormative ideal of a nuclear family and a biological understanding of kinship. In Steer Toward Rock (2008), Fae Myenne Ng depicts the formations of paper families during the time of Chinese Exclusion laws within the Chinese American diaspora. The exclusionary immigration laws force the fictional characters to form certain alliances and kinship relations within and outside the diaspora. The paper families depicted in the novel gain legitimacy in the eye of the US through committing illegitimate acts, and blur the lines between real/fake and authentic/inauthentic.