Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing

Helena Grice is Senior Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and is the author of Negotiating Identities and Maxine Hong Kingston.

• Acknowledgements. 1. Reading Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing: International Encounters 2. "The Escape from Asia Tradition": Cultural Revolution Expatriate Memoirs 3. Contemporary Transracial Adoption Narratives: Prospects and Perspectives 4. A Secret History: American Representations of Geisha Society 5. Korean Expatriate Writing and the History of the Korean Peninsula. Notes. Bibliography. Index

"In this valuable addition to scholarship on Asian American literature in a transnational context, Grice (Univ. of Wales, Aberystwyth) investigates four "shrouded histories of 20th century Asia"--memoirs by women of Communist China, Chinese transracial adoption narratives, literature on the geisha of Japan, and Korean expatriate narratives--that help to produce a new global imaginary by both disrupting and exceeding concepts of identity and nationhood. Recommended." --Choice. "Grice insightfully and sensitively analyzes hundreds of texts from multiple Asian cultures and in several genres, making this volume a valuable addition to several disciplines, including American studies, ethnic studies, literary studies, and diaspora studies."-- David S. Goldstein, University of Washington, Bothell