GBS_insertPreviewButtonPopup ISBN 9780748622726 This critical study of Asian American literature discusses work by internationally successful writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston Chang rae Lee Bharati Mukherjee Amy Tan and others in their historical cultural and critical contexts The focus of the book is on contemporary writing from the 1970s onwards although it also traces over a hundred years of Asian American literary production in prose poetry drama and criticism The main body of the book comprises five periodized chapters that highlight important events in a nation state that has historically rendered Asian Americans invisible Of particular importance to the writers selected for case studies are questions of racial identity cultural history and literary value with respect to dominant American ideologies Key FeaturesDiscusses a representative range of Asian American literature providing a sense of the diversity of the field and of its key themes and modes of writingProvides close readings of key texts through of case studies in their cultural historical and critical contextsEncourages reflection on questions of literary value canonicity and the scope and purpose of literary studies