Reviews"Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and anim to The Simpsons and Secret Asian Man , this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." -Kent Ono,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, This volume explores historical and contemporary Asian American popular culture in the context of three broad themes: globalization and local identities, cultural legacy and memories, and ethnicity and identification. Among topics covered are transnational Vietnamese music, Asian fusion cuisine, race on the Internet, kung fu movies, hip hop, and the 'iconography of Tiger Woods.', "A veritable feast of the field's most scrumptious offerings,East Main Streetsatisfies with some of the best minds in Asian American studies at this table." - Gary Y. Okihiro, author ofCommon Ground: Reimagining American History, East Main Street creates its own relevance by touching on an abundance of cultural mediums and themes. Scholars of film, literature, the Internet, music, and history can all find essays in which to sink their teeth., "East Main Streetcreates its own relevance by touching on an abundance of cultural mediums and themes. Scholars of film, literature, the Internet, music, and history can all find essays in which to sink their teeth." -Western American Literature, A veritable feast of the field's most scrumptious offerings, East Main Street satisfies with some of the best minds in Asian American studies at this table., "This volume explores historical and contemporary Asian American popular culture in the context of three broad themes: globalization and local identities, cultural legacy and memories, and ethnicity and identification. Among topics covered are transnational Vietnamese music, Asian fusion cuisine, race on the Internet, kung fu movies, hip hop, and the 'iconography of Tiger Woods.'" - Sage Race Relations Abstracts, Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and animé to The Simpsons and Secret Asian Man, this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America., " East Main Street creates its own relevance by touching on an abundance of cultural mediums and themes. Scholars of film, literature, the Internet, music, and history can all find essays in which to sink their teeth." - Western American Literature ,, "Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and animé to The Simpsons and Secret Asian Man , this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." -Kent Ono,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and anim to The Simpsons and Secret Asian Man, this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." -Kent Ono,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "Honest, insightful, and a well balanced analysis of this complicated problem. Spindel has discovered the confusing reservoir of tangled emotions that underlie American attitudes towards Indians-and toward themselves. A 'must read'." - Vine Deloria, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus, University of Colorado and a Standing Rock Sioux tribal member, This volume explores historical and contemporary Asian American popular culture in the context of three broad themes: globalization and local identities, cultural legacy and memories, and ethnicity and identification. Among topics covered are transnational Vietnamese music, Asian fusion cuisine, race on the Internet, kung fu movies, hip hop, and the & iconography of Tiger Woods., "Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and animé toThe Simpsons andSecret Asian Man , this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." - Kent Ono, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "Spindel displays considerable courage in tackling a controversial subject. A very personal account of the twentieth-century phenomenon of American Indians used as sports mascots, Dancing at Halftime also contains some fascinating history of early college football. The whole is strongly and beautifully written." - Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, East Main Street creates its own relevance by touching on an abundance of cultural mediums and themes. Scholars of film, literature, the Internet, music, and history can all find essays in which to sink their teeth., "A veritable feast of the field's most scrumptious offerings, East Main Street satisfies with some of the best minds in Asian American studies at this table." - Gary Y. Okihiro, author of Common Ground: Reimagining American History, "Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and anim to The Simpsonsand Secret Asian Man, this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." - Kent Ono, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "This volume explores historical and contemporary Asian American popular culture in the context of three broad themes: globalization and local identities, cultural legacy and memories, and ethnicity and identification. Among topics covered are transnational Vietnamese music, Asian fusion cuisine, race on the Internet, kung fu movies, hip hop, and the 'iconography of Tiger Woods.'" -Sage Race Relations Abstracts, "With clear and compelling language, Spindel shows us how the naive rituals of a previous era can become the insensitive orthodoxy of today. I can't imagine a more readable-or a more even-handed-exploration of the mascot issue. This should be required reading for anyone committed to building a new sense of community in the United States." - Frederick E. Hoxie, Swanlund Professor, University of Illinois, and editor of The Encyclopedia of North American Indians, " East Main Street creates its own relevance by touching on an abundance of cultural mediums and themes. Scholars of film, literature, the Internet, music, and history can all find essays in which to sink their teeth." - Western American Literature, "This volume explores historical and contemporary Asian American popular culture in the context of three broad themes: globalization and local identities, cultural legacy and memories, and ethnicity and identification. Among topics covered are transnational Vietnamese music, Asian fusion cuisine, race on the Internet, kung fu movies, hip hop, and the 'iconography of Tiger Woods.'" - Sage Race Relations Abstracts ,, "A veritable feast of the field's most scrumptious offerings, East Main Street satisfies with some of the best minds in Asian American studies at this table." -Gary Y. Okihiro,author of Common Ground: Reimagining American History, "Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and animé to The Simpsonsand Secret Asian Man, this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." -Kent Ono,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "Yesterday's racism we recognize and we are embarrassed by it. Today's racism we often do not recognize until we read something like Carol Spindel's clear and fascinating message in Dancing at Halftime." - Senator Paul Simon, "Sure to spark the imagination of both seasoned fans of Asian American popular culture and the as yet uninitiated. From cyberspace and animé to The Simpsons and Secret Asian Man, this book intrigues and provokes with every chapter. The sheer number of savvy cultural critics assembled ensures that readers will find something of interest, no matter where one begins exploring the popular culture of Asian America." -Kent Ono,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
IllustratedYes
Table Of ContentAcknowledgments Foreword Robert G. LeeIntroduction Shilpa Dave, LeiLani Nishime, and Tasha G. OrenPart I: Globalization and Local IdentitiesTrance-FormationsSunaina MairaMaking Transnational Vietnamese MusicKieu Linh Caroline ValverdePlanet BollywoodJigna DesaiModel Minorities Can CookAnita Mannur"pappy's house"Vicente M. DiazPart II: Cultural Legacy and Memories"Within Each Crack/A Story"Victor Bascara"A Woman Is Nothing"Christine SoBetween Yellowphilia and YellowphobiaHye Seung ChungWhose Paradise? Morris YoungMiss Cherry Blossom Meets Mainstream America Rebecca Chiyoko King-O'RiainHow to Rehabilitate a MulattoHiram PerezPart III: Ethnicity and Identi?cationBruce Lee in the Ghetto ConnectionAmy Abugo Ongiri"Alllooksame"? Lisa NakamuraGuilty PleasuresLeiLani NishimeCibo Matto's Stereotype AJane C. H. ParkApu's Brown VoiceShilpa DaveSecret Asian ManTasha G. OrenAbout the Contributors Index
SynopsisBy tracing cross-cultural influences and global cultural trends, this title includes essays that bring Asian American studies, in all its interdisciplinary richness, to bear on a broad spectrum of cultural artifacts. It is suitable for understanding Asian American popular culture and also contemporary US culture writ large., An interdisciplinary anthology of the rich Asian American influence on U.S. popular culture From henna tattoo kits available at your local mall to "faux Asian" fashions, housewares and fusion cuisine; from the new visibility of Asian film, music, video games and anime to the current popularity of martial arts motifs in hip hop, Asian influences have thoroughly saturated the U.S. cultural landscape and have now become an integral part of the vernacular of popular culture. By tracing cross-cultural influences and global cultural trends, the essays in East Main Street bring Asian American studies, in all its interdisciplinary richness, to bear on a broad spectrum of cultural artifacts. Contributors consider topics ranging from early Asian American movie stars to the influences of South Asian iconography on rave culture, and from the marketing of Asian culture through food to the contemporary clamor for transnational Chinese women's historical fiction. East Main Street hits the shelves in the midst of a boom in Asian American population and cultural production. This book is essential not only for understanding Asian American popular culture but also contemporary U.S. popular culture writ large., From henna tattoo kits available at your local mall to "faux Asian" fashions, housewares and fusion cuisine; from the new visibility of Asian film, music, video games and anime to the current popularity of martial arts motifs in hip hop, Asian influences have thoroughly saturated the U.S. cultural landscape and have now become an integral part of the vernacular of popular culture. By tracing cross-cultural influences and global cultural trends, the essays in East Main Street bring Asian American studies, in all its interdisciplinary richness, to bear on a broad spectrum of cultural artifacts. Contributors consider topics ranging from early Asian American movie stars to the influences of South Asian iconography on rave culture, and from the marketing of Asian culture through food to the contemporary clarnor for transnational Chinese women's historical fiction. East Main Street hits the shelves in the midst of a boom in Asian American population and cultural production. This book is essential not only for understanding Asian American popular culture but also contemporary U.S. popular culture writ large., From henna tattoo kits available at your local mall to "faux Asian" fashions, housewares and fusion cuisine; from the new visibility of Asian film, music, video games and anime to the current popularity of martial arts motifs in hip hop, Asian influences have thoroughly saturated the U.S. cultural landscape and have now become an integral part of the vernacular of popular culture. By tracing cross-cultural influences and global cultural trends, the essays in East Main Street bring Asian American studies, in all its interdisciplinary richness, to bear on a broad spectrum of cultural artifacts. Contributors consider topics ranging from early Asian American movie stars to the influences of South Asian iconography on rave culture, and from the marketing of Asian culture through food to the contemporary clamor for transnational Chinese women's historical fiction. East Main Street hits the shelves in the midst of a boom in Asian American population and cultural production. This book is essential not only for understanding Asian American popular culture but also contemporary U.S. popular culture writ large.