Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- 22 Beyond Solitary Confinement: Rethinking the Sociopolitical Context of Local Literature in Hawai‘i
- 23 Contemporary Asian American Drama
- 24 “More Than You Ever Knew You Knew”: The Rising Prestige of Fiction
- 25 Asian American Poetry and the Politics of Form
- 26 The Forgotten War in Korea
- 27 The American War in Viet Nam and Its Diasporas
- 28 Refugee Aesthetics: Cambodia, Laos, and the Hmong
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
22 - Beyond Solitary Confinement: Rethinking the Sociopolitical Context of Local Literature in Hawai‘i
from Part V - Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- 22 Beyond Solitary Confinement: Rethinking the Sociopolitical Context of Local Literature in Hawai‘i
- 23 Contemporary Asian American Drama
- 24 “More Than You Ever Knew You Knew”: The Rising Prestige of Fiction
- 25 Asian American Poetry and the Politics of Form
- 26 The Forgotten War in Korea
- 27 The American War in Viet Nam and Its Diasporas
- 28 Refugee Aesthetics: Cambodia, Laos, and the Hmong
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter deals with the rethinking of sociopolitical context of Hawai'i literature under the backdrop of Lois-Ann Yamanaka's Blu's Hanging. The turbulence that erupted as a result of the award given to her for her work revealed much about the Islands' tendency toward provincialism and discrete factionalism that at one time pitted locals against outsiders, and later settler Asians against native Hawaiians. The global sparring for political hegemony that directly influenced the plantation hierarchy of race relations has been increasingly scrutinized in recent years, encouraging local-heritage writers to look beyond the confines of Hawai'i's shores to delve into the larger geopolitical machinations that playout on the level of the individual. For Michelle Cruz Skinner, Hawai'i is just a small aspect of the larger collection of voices and experiences of the Filipino Diaspora. Any reading of Hawai'i's and its literary heritages must take into account the clash of ideologies between Euro-centric and Asian-centric postures.
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- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature , pp. 389 - 405Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015