Rachel C. Lee acknowledges that understanding Asian American experiences merits the study of transglobal migrations of persons and capital. Rather than criticize this scholarly trend in Asian American studies (and, I would add, in ethnic studies more broadly), Lee integrates into them a greater attention to gender. Like much of historical and social scholarship, works on the Asian American diaspora tend to neglect gender. By examining how gender figures into the various ways in which four Asian American writers imagine  America,  Lee reminds us that gender, like race, always matters

Goldstein-Shirley, David

English

VCU Scholars Compass

Ethnic Studies Review Volume 22 
"Ch icana/o , "  ethn ic and American stud ies) . Nonetheless, 
Urban Latino Cultures reclaims Los Angeles for the Latinas/os 
of the late twentieth and early twenty-fi rst centuries by stress­
ing that the vi l lage once known as EI Pueblo de Nuestra 
Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula (now known simply as 
"L.A.") is more pal impsest than tabula rasa. The col lection is a 
valuable contribution to American, Chicana/o, ethnic and u rban 
stud ies and is an exciting addition to the burgeon ing fields of 
Latina/o cu ltural studies. 
Catherine S. Rami rez 
Un iversity of New Mexico 
Rachel C. Lee. The Americas of Asian American Literature: 
Gendered Fictions of Nation and Transnation. (Princeton,  
N.J . :  Princeton University Press, 1 999). xi ,  205 pp.,  $49.50 
cloth, $1 6.95 paper. 
Rachel C. Lee acknowledges that understanding Asian 
American experiences merits the study of transglobal m igra­
tions of persons and capita l .  Rather than criticize this scholar­
ly t rend in  Asian American studies (and ,  I would add , in  ethn ic 
stud ies more broadly) , Lee integrates into them a greater atten­
tion to gender. Like much of h istorical and social scholarsh ip ,  
works on the Asian American d iaspora tend to neglect gender. 
By examining how gender figu res into the various ways in  
which fou r  Asian American writers imagine "America," Lee 
rem inds us that gender, l ike race, always matters . 
Lee f i rst analyzes America Is in the Heart, Carlos 
Bu losan's semi-autobiographical novel fi rst publ ished in  1 946. 
Often read-and taught-as a progressive text for its resistance 
to racism and classism , Bu losan's novel also emphasizes fra­
ternal bonds th reatened at several junctu res by women's sex­
ual ity. Wh i le the novel 's famously upbeat conclusion affi rms the 
possibi l ity of a un ified America, the narrator's vision comes 
only at the expense of acknowledged and celebrated d iffer­
ence, including that of gender. 
Lee s imi larly compl icates ou r understanding of G ish Jen's 
1 28 
Book Reviews 
contemporary nove l ,  Typical American, wh ich sati r izes 
American obsessions with ind iv idual ism and commerce 
th rough a Chinese immigrant couple's attempts to succeed in 
America without becoming too American . According to Lee, 
"Jen suggests that power inequ ities between g roups d ifferenti­
ated by race and gender are th ickly woven into the fabric of 
America's national narrative of 'opportun ity'" (71 ) .  Lee finds 
Jen's humorously sati rical novel largely successful in its depic­
tion of the compl icated ways in which race and gender interact. 
The author tu rns next to Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters, 
which , although set in the Ph i l i ppines, critiques America 
th rough its characters' obsession with Hol lywood . The intrusion 
of American pol itical and cultu ral hegemony into the Phi l ippines 
provides a force against which Hagedorn's characters resist. 
Demonstrating that the leadership of women and of gay men 
bears as m uch (or as l ittle) legitimacy as that of straight men , 
the novel represents an alternative intersection of pol itiCS and 
gender. Lee's book includes two appendices, wh ich enumerate 
the p lots and quoted materia ls ,  respective ly, found in  
Dogeaters. 
Final ly, Lee argues that Karen Tei Yamash ita's Through 
the Arc of the Rain Forest, set in  Braz i l  a hundred years from 
now, decenters both America and Asia. Because Lee must 
argue that th is novel bears upon her study of America as imag­
ined by Asian American writers , however, this chapter treats 
gender in a manner one step removed from the chapter's cri­
t ique of capital 's devastation of envi ronment. The resu lt is a 
less forceful  analysis than previous chapters offer. 
Perhaps Lee's most important accompl ishment in her 
engaging attempt to compl icate Asian American studies' pre­
occupation with national ism and transnational ism l ies in her 
resistance to any narrative, whether in fiction or in criticism , 
that claims to offer a singular truth . Her book, which includes 
extensive endnotes , a l ist of works cited , and a fine index, 
admi rably contributes to the goal of Asian American studies "to 
envision and effect a better world" by tu rn ing a "self-critical lens 
to Asian American crit icism" ( 1 46) . 
David Goldstein-Sh irley 
Un iversity of Wash ington, Bothel l  
1 29 


[Review of] Rachel C. Lee. The Americas of Asian American Literature: Gendered Fictions of Nation and Transnation

Ethnic Studies Review Volume 22 "Ch icana/o , "  ethn ic and American stud ies) . Nonetheless, Urban Latino Cultures reclaims Los Angeles for the Latinas/os of the late twentieth and early twenty-fi rst centuries by stress­ing that the vi l lage once known as EI Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula (now known simply as "L.A.") is more pal impsest than tabula rasa. The col lection is a valuable contribution to American, Chicana/o, ethnic and u rban stud ies and is an exciting addition to the burgeon ing fields of Latina/o cu ltural studies. Catherine S. Rami rez Un iversity of New Mexico Rachel C. Lee. The Americas of Asian American Literature: Gendered Fictions of Nation and Transnation. (Princeton,  N.J . :  Princeton University Press, 1 999). xi ,  205 pp.,  $49.50 cloth, $1 6.95 paper. Rachel C. Lee acknowledges that understanding Asian American experiences merits the study of transglobal m igra­tions of persons and capita l .  Rather than criticize this scholar­ly t rend in  Asian American studies (and ,  I would add , in  ethn ic stud ies more broadly) , Lee integrates into them a greater atten­tion to gender. Like much of h istorical and social scholarsh ip ,  works on the Asian American d iaspora tend to neglect gender. By examining how gender figu res into the various ways in  which fou r  Asian American writers imagine "America," Lee rem inds us that gender, l ike race, always matters . Lee f i rst analyzes America Is in the Heart, Carlos Bu losan's semi-autobiographical novel fi rst publ ished in  1 946. Often read-and taught-as a progressive text for its resistance to racism and classism , Bu losan's novel also emphasizes fra­ternal bonds th reatened at several junctu res by women's sex­ual ity. Wh i le the novel 's famously upbeat conclusion affi rms the possibi l ity of a un ified America, the narrator's vision comes only at the expense of acknowledged and celebrated d iffer­ence, including that of gender. Lee s imi larly compl icates ou r understanding of G ish Jen's 1 28 Book Reviews contemporary nove l ,  Typical American, wh ich sati r izes American obsessions with ind iv idual ism and commerce th rough a Chinese immigrant couple's attempts to succeed in America without becoming too American . According to Lee, "Jen suggests that power inequ ities between g roups d ifferenti­ated by race and gender are th ickly woven into the fabric of America's national narrative of 'opportun ity'" (71 ) .  Lee finds Jen's humorously sati rical novel largely successful in its depic­tion of the compl icated ways in which race and gender interact. The author tu rns next to Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters, which , although set in the Ph i l i ppines, critiques America th rough its characters' obsession with Hol lywood . The intrusion of American pol itical and cultu ral hegemony into the Phi l ippines provides a force against which Hagedorn's characters resist. Demonstrating that the leadership of women and of gay men bears as m uch (or as l ittle) legitimacy as that of straight men , the novel represents an alternative intersection of pol itiCS and gender. Lee's book includes two appendices, wh ich enumerate the p lots and quoted materia ls ,  respective ly, found in  Dogeaters. Final ly, Lee argues that Karen Tei Yamash ita's Through the Arc of the Rain Forest, set in  Braz i l  a hundred years from now, decenters both America and Asia. Because Lee must argue that th is novel bears upon her study of America as imag­ined by Asian American writers , however, this chapter treats gender in a manner one step removed from the chapter's cri­t ique of capital 's devastation of envi ronment. The resu lt is a less forceful  analysis than previous chapters offer. Perhaps Lee's most important accompl ishment in her engaging attempt to compl icate Asian American studies' pre­occupation with national ism and transnational ism l ies in her resistance to any narrative, whether in fiction or in criticism , that claims to offer a singular truth . Her book, which includes extensive endnotes , a l ist of works cited , and a fine index, admi rably contributes to the goal of Asian American studies "to envision and effect a better world" by tu rn ing a "self-critical lens to Asian American crit icism" ( 1 46) . David Goldstein-Sh irley Un iversity of Wash ington, Bothel l  1 29 

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[Review of] Rachel C. Lee. The Americas of Asian American Literature: Gendered Fictions of Nation and Transnation

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