Q & A: Queer in Asian America [Paperback]

David L. Eng (Editor), Alice Y. Hom (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 1998

What does it mean to be queer and Asian-American at the turn of the century? The writers, activists, essayists, and artists who contribute to this volume consider how Asian-American racial identity and queer sexuality interconnect in mutually shaping and complicating ways. Their collective aim (in the words of the editors) is to articulate a new conception of Asian-American racial identity, its heterogeneity, hybridity, and multiplicity-concepts that have after all underpinned the Asian-American moniker from its very inception. "Q & A" approaches matters of identity from a variety of points of view and academic disciplines in order to explore the multiple crossings of race and ethnicity with sexuality and gender.Drawing together the work of visual artists, fiction writers, community organizers, scholars, and participants in roundtable discussions, the collection gathers an array of voices and experiences that represent the emerging communities of a queer Asian-America. Collectively, these contributors contend that Asian-American studies needs to be more attentive to issues of sexuality and that queer studies needs to be more attentive to other aspects of difference, especially race and ethnicity. Vigorously rejecting the notion that a symmetrical relationship between race and homosexuality would weaken lesbian/gay and queer movements, the editors refuse to believe that a desirably queer world is one in which we remain perpetual aliens-queer houseguests-in a queer nation. David L. Eng is Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University. Alice Y. Hom is a doctoral candidate in history at Claremont Graduate University.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This groundbreaking anthology presents us with 26 essays and fiction pieces that discuss, explicate, and exemplify the always complex, sometimes confusing, and often surprising intersections between the identities of "gay," "Asian," and "American." The essays cover topics ranging from sex to traditional family values to religion to AIDS and queer activism, and are written in a variety of styles, at turns highly personal or academic. Richard Fong's "Looking for My Penis" explores images of Asian men in gay porn; Patti Duncan's "History of a Disease" is an impressionistic, experimental autobiographical meditation on family history and being a Korean American lesbian. While the writers and their topics all concern aspects of Asian American and gay life, the ultimate portrait that emerges from Q & A is one of a United States culture that bears little resemblance to the "America" portrayed in the media or even by contemporary history. What Eng and Hom have done is not simply give Asian American gay men and lesbians a venue for their voices but challenge how each of us imagines and conceptualizes his or her national identity, extending the anthology's importance beyond its relevance to gay or Asian studies. --Michael Bronski

From Library Journal

Gay Asian Americans face layers of discrimination in North American society, including homophobia, xenophobia, and racism (and, in the case of women, sexism), compounded by the fact that "Asian" is an ill-defined concept that subsumes distinctive and disparate cultures. Editors Eng (English and comparative literature, Columbia) and Hom have aimed for comprehensiveness in this handsome, large-format volume. But even by the standards of such anthologies, the selections here are exceptionally uneven. The strongest are those that convey the social, cultural, and artistic facets of the gay Asian American experience. Unfortunately, too many of the essays are marred by a tendency to cavil about victimization. Still, the subject is novel, and enough of the authors and artists here express themselves with graphic power and precision to recommend this book for both gay studies and Asian studies collections.ARichard Violette, Special Libraries Cataloging Inc., Victoria, BC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 445 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press; 1St Edition edition (August 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566396409
• ISBN-13: 978-1566396400
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, Enlightening, truly amazing, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Q & A: Queer in Asian America (Paperback)

I was in the bookstore and started flipping through the book and couldn't stop reading it, I was totally awed and drawn by the content and simply overjoyed to see what I have witnessed, experienced and lived in such a coherent fashion. I would definitely recommend this as priority reading for all Asian Americans regardless of sexual orientation.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking, April 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Q & A: Queer in Asian America (Paperback)

Every comment I've ever read about this book refers to it as "groundbreaking." A cliche, yes, but also true. This sprawling, yet tightly edited, collection breaks new ground not only in its juxtaposition of Asian and queer issues, but also in its unique and progressive vision: a refusal to break queer Asians into merely a collection of P.C. buzzwords, and an assertion of the unique and whole individuals who constitute queer Asian America.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best reading I've had this year........., September 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Q & A: Queer in Asian America (Paperback)

I found this book to have perspectives not only for gay Asians, but for all gay men and women of color.