A Pole with a Stake in Asian American Literature

Bibliographic Data

ID10891085
AuthorsDominika Ferens (0000-0003-4231-1686, Dominika Ferens teaches American literature at the University of Wroclaw, Poland. She is the author of Edith and Winnifred Eaton: Chinatown Missions and Japanese Romances (University of Illinois Press, 2002). Her research interests include Asian American literature, gender and queer studies, and the intersections of literature and ethnography., corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume34
Issue2
Publication date2008-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerasia Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0044-7471 • E-ISSN: 2642-0228
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.17953/amer.34.2.l778w4x051k83186
OpenAlexW2322151281
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

In 1990s Poland, the answer to the question why I study Asian American literature could be brief and dismissive. Even today, Polish academics schooled in the tradition of European humanism are free to assume that their research interests are natural and neutral. At best, the choice to study ethnic literature passes without comment; at worst, it is viewed as a politically correct choice tantamount to academic self-marginalization. Thus, nothing prepared me for the rigorous examination of my academic interests when I arrived at UCLA in 1994. Getting through immigration and customs had been comparatively easy. The real interrogations started on campus: Why are you interested in Asian American literature? What's your stake? Are you aware of your privileged position? Have you thought about your accountability? These questions came over and over again. The harder I tried to deliver my thoughts on how I relate to Asian American literature, the less convincing they sounded. In my first year of gradu

Accountability · Asian americans · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Humanism · Immigration · Nothing · Political science · Sociology · Asian American and Pacific Histories · Law · Philosophy

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