Asian American War Stories examines contemporary Asian American literature that considers both the short-term and the long-term effects of war, trauma, and displacement on civilians, as well as the ways that individuals seek healing in the face of suffering. Through the works of contemporary writers like Chang-rae Lee, Ocean Vuong, Nora Okja Keller, Julie Otsuka, Lan Cao, and Lawson Inada, this book explores the ways that recent Asian American literature reflects the enduring consequences of America’s wars in Asia at the individual and collective levels. The book also considers the journeys that individuals take as they pursue healing of their traumatic wounds.
Author(s): Jeffrey T. Gibbons
Series: Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 188
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Trauma and Healing in Contemporary Asian American Literature
1 Discovering Beauty through Illness and Failure in Chang-rae Lee’s The Surrendered
2 Open Wounds and Half Lives: Post-Traumatic Illness and the Struggle to Heal in Lan Cao’s The Lotus and the Storm
3 Testimony in Asian American War Literature
4 Intergenerational Trauma in Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
5 The Trauma of Citizenship: Collective Healing in Lawson Inada’s Internment Poetry
Index
