Category: Asian & Pacific American studies

Cultural Tourism and the Negotiation of Tradition

Posted on by stephchun

At the 1989 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, throngs of visitors gathered on the National Mall to celebrate Hawai‘i’s multicultural heritage through its traditional arts. The “edu-tainment” spectacle revealed a richly complex Hawai‘i few tourists ever see and one never before or since replicated in a national space. The program was restaged a year later in Honolulu for a local audience and subsequently inspired several spin-offs in Hawai‘i. In both Washington, D.C., and Honolulu, the program instigated a new paradigm for cultural representation. Based on archival research and extensive interviews with festival organizers and participants, American Aloha: Cultural Tourism and the Negotiation of Tradition by Heather A. Diamond, is an innovative cross-disciplinary study that uncovers the behind-the-scenes negotiations and processes that inform the national spectacle of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

June 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3171-4 / $55.00 (CLOTH)

Reading the New Testament

Posted on by stephchun

What Is Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics?, by Tat-siong Benny Liew, is the first single-authored book on Asian American biblical interpretation. It covers all of the major genres within the New Testament and broadens biblical hermeneutics to cover not only the biblical texts, but also Asian American literature and current films and events like genome research and September 11.

“Liew is one of the most articulate, creative and sophisticated biblical scholars in North America. What Is Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics? has not caused me to question that judgment. A set of provocative questions, arguments, issues, and problems, the book opens a window onto what it means for human beings to try to negotiate a rather complex contemporary world, with evidence of increasingly blurred but also thick ideological and social-cultural boundaries and overlapping but also recognizable and isolable identity formations. That Liew does this by using and bringing together the category “Asian American” and the phenomenon of the reading of “the Bible” as sharp analytical wedge is all the more fascinating. This impressive book represents the collapse of the center and a major shift in orientation to the peripheries. It is a major achievement and a major challenge.” —Vincent L. Wimbush, Claremont Graduate University

What Is Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics? is the latest volume in the series Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Cultural Studies published by University of Hawai‘i Press.

January 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3162-2 / $35.00 (PAPER)

Reading Food in Asian American Literature

Posted on by stephchun

The French epicure and gastronome Brillat-Savarin declared, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.” Wenying Xu infuses this notion with cultural-political energy by extending it to an ethnic group known for its cuisines: Asian Americans. Eating Identities: Reading Food in Asian American Literature begins with the general argument that eating is a means of becoming—not simply in the sense of nourishment but more importantly of what we choose to eat, what we can afford to eat, what we secretly crave but are ashamed to eat in front of others, and how we eat. Food, as the most significant medium of traffic between the inside and outside of our bodies, organizes, signifies, and legitimates our sense of self and distinguishes us from others, who practice different foodways.

November 2007 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3195-0 / $29.00 (PAPER)

Reflections on Asian Bodies in Diaspora

Posted on by stephchun

Approximately twelve hours’ difference lies between New York and Beijing: The West and the East are, literally, night and day apart. Yet East-West Montage: Reflections on Asian Bodies in Diaspora, by Sheng-Mei Ma, crosscuts the two in the manner of adjacent filmic shots to accentuate their montage-like complementarity. It examines the intersection between East and West—the Asian diaspora (or more specifically Asian bodies in diaspora) and the cultural expressions by and about people of Asian descent on both sides of the Pacific.

November 2007 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3181-3 / $27.00 (PAPER)

“East-West Montage possesses a unique vision that promises to push discussions of globalization, cultural production, ethnic identity, and bodily metaphors in powerful new directions. Ma is to be praised for his sound scholarship and innovative interpretations. Indeed where others specialize in either the collection of details or the unpacking of text, Ma weaves a strong analytic exegesis rooted in thorough research.” —Richard King, Washington State University

Toyoko Yamasaki Novel Now Available in English

Posted on by stephchun

Toyoko Yamasaki’s novel Two Homelands (Futatsu no sokoku) tells the powerful story of three brothers during the years surrounding World War II. From the attack on Pearl Harbor to the Pacific War, relocation to Manzanar, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and the Tokyo war crimes trials, we follow the lives of Kenji, Tadashi, and Isamu Amo, the California-born sons of Japanese immigrants. The eldest, Kenji, must grapple with what it means to belong to two nations at war with one another and to face betrayal by both. Tadashi, in school in Japan when war breaks out, is drafted into the Japanese army and renounces his U.S. citizenship. Later Kenji and Tadashi find themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield in the Philippines; although they both survive the conflict, their relationship is destroyed by the war. Isamu, the youngest and the most thoroughly American of the brothers, loves John Wayne movies and gives his life to rescue the lost Texas battalion fighting in France.

Popular Japanese novelist Toyoko Yamasaki spent five years interviewing Japanese-Americans and researching documentary sources to assemble the raw material for her book. Through the story of the Amo family, she forces readers to confront the meaning of “love of country” as her characters encounter prejudice and suspicion on both sides of the Pacific. Almost a quarter century after its Japanese publication, this English-language translation affords a valuable opportunity to understand the postwar reassessment of what it means to be Japanese in the modern world.

Translated by V. Dixon Morris

November 2007 / ISBN 978-0-8248-2944-5 / $36.00 (PAPER)
Order here and receive a 20% discount for November 2007!

Reader Reaction to Combat Chaplain

Posted on by UH Press

A reader sends the following reaction to Combat Chaplain by Israel Yost:

Dear neighbors on the other side of the globe,

I want to personally thank the University of Hawai‘i Press for publishing Combat Chaplain by Israel Yost, and to thank Monica Yost and Michael Markrich for compiling and editing such a wonderfully well-told account of very tough times.

I work as a spiritual director near Naples, Italy, where I travel many of the paths that Chaplain Yost once did as I live near Avellino. I was surprised to find that I currently conduct spiritual retreats just a few miles from where he did his hardest work in Montecalvo Irpino, Italy.

Having been in combat myself, I am humbled at the harshness of the task facing the 100th Battalion, which lacked our modern protections and tactics. This book will greatly enrich the retreats I conduct here and I will encourage others to read it. I plan to drive the path he did while recollecting some of his thoughts while treading the same, now peaceful ground. We truly stand on the spiritual shoulders of such men as Israel Yost and those who tell his story. I now reap the benefits of the peace that he sought.

My prayers of thanks to the Lord for your book. May such stories be told over and over.

Ciao, most sincerely,
Bruce Mentzer

Mark Panek reading from Gaijin Yokozuna

Posted on by stephchun

Mark Panek, author of Gaijin Yokozuna: A Biography of Chad Rowan, will read from his biography of the Hawai‘i-born sumotori on Tuesday, October 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in UCB 100 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Gaijin Yokozuna explores the changes in cultural identity that Waimanalo’s Chad Rowan made on his way to becoming sumotori Akebono, the first foreigner (gaijin) to reach the top rank, yokozuna (grand champion), in a sport that dates back to Japanese creation myths.

This special event is free and open to the public, but registration is required to fulfill grant conditions. Call 808-974-7664 for registration information.

John Clark at Brown Bag Biography

Posted on by stephchun

John Clark, author of many popular books on Hawai‘i’s beaches, will discuss his work on Guardian of the Sea: Jizo in Hawai‘i, published this August by University of Hawai‘i Press, on Thursday, November 15, noon-1:15 pm, at the Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai‘i-Manoa, Henke Hall 325, 1800 East-West Road. The event is part of “Brown Bag Biography: Discussions of Life Writing By and For Town and Gown,” sponsored by the Center.

The WWII Internment Memoirs of a Hawaii Issei

Posted on by stephchun

Yasutaro Soga’s Life behind Barbed Wire (Tessaku seikatsu) is an exceptional firsthand account of the incarceration of a Hawai‘i Japanese during World War II. On the evening of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Soga, the editor of a Japanese-language newspaper, was arrested along with several hundred other prominent Issei (Japanese immigrants) in Hawai‘i. After being held for six months on Sand Island, Soga was transferred to an Army camp in Lordsburg, New Mexico, and later to a Justice Department camp in Santa Fe. He would spend just under four years in custody before returning to Hawai‘i in the months following the end of the war.

Most of what has been written about the detention of Japanese Americans focuses on the Nisei experience of mass internment on the West Coast—largely because of the language barrier immigrant writers faced. This translation, therefore, presents us with a rare Issei voice on internment, and Soga’s opinions challenge many commonly held assumptions about Japanese Americans during the war regarding race relations, patriotism, and loyalty.

October 2007 / ISBN 978-0-8248-2033-6 / $24.00 (PAPER)

Jizo in Hawaii

Posted on by stephchun

Jizo, one of the most beloved Buddhist deities in Japan, is known primarily as the guardian of children and travelers. In coastal areas, fishermen and swimmers also look to him for protection. Soon after their arrival in the late 1800s, issei (first-generation Japanese) shoreline fishermen began casting for ulua on Hawai‘i’s treacherous sea cliffs, where they risked being swept off the rocky ledges. In response to numerous drownings, Jizo statues were erected near dangerous fishing and swimming sites. Guardian of the Sea: Jizo in Hawai‘i, by John R. K. Clark, tells the story of a compassionate group of men who raised these statues as a service to their communities.

August 2007 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3158-5 / $19.95 (PAPER)

“John Clark has written a remarkable book about shoreline statues of Jizo, a Buddhist figure dedicated to our protection and enlightenment. . . . John draws on interviews with more than three hundred individuals to document the location of these statues and in the process offers us a glimpse of the daily lives and spirituality of early Japanese Americans. We are indebted to him for making us aware of these Jizo monuments and their role in shaping Hawai‘i’s multicultural heritage.” —Dennis Ogawa, chair, American Studies Department, University of Hawai‘i

John R. K. Clark is the author of numerous best-selling books on Hawai‘i’s beaches— most recently Beaches of Oahu (revised edition); Hawai‘i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites; and Hawai‘i’s Best Beaches—all published by University of Hawai‘i Press.

First Among Nisei Book Launch

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A book launch celebrating the publication of First Among Nisei: The Life and Writings of Masaji Marumoto will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2007, at 10:30 a.m., at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, Teruya Courtyard, 2454 South Beretania Street, Honolulu. The book is written by University of Hawai‘i professor Dennis M. Ogawa, published by the Department of American Studies, UH, and the JCCH, and distributed by University of Hawai‘i Press. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information call (808) 945-7633 or email info@jcch.com.

The Life and Writings of One of Hawaii’s Most Distinguished Nisei

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Distributed for the Department of American Studies, University of Hawai‘i, and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, First Among Nisei: The Life and Writings of Masaji Marumoto, by Dennis M. Ogawa, is an account of the life and career of one of Hawai‘i’s most distinguished Nisei. Primarily based on oral histories, this book is an account of Marumoto’s life and career—from the time he was a child until he was well into his retirement years in the mid-1980s. Marumoto was the first person of Asian ancestry to graduate from Harvard Law School, the first Japanese American president of the Hawaii Bar Association, and the first Japanese American to serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court.

June 2007 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3141-7 / $25.00 (PAPER)

Dennis M. Ogawa is the author of Jan Ken Po: The World of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans and co-author with Glen Grant of Kodomo no tame ni/For the Sake of the Children: The Japanese American Experience in Hawaii, both published by University of Hawai‘i Press.

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