Category: Asian & Pacific American studies

Encountering Modernity: Christianity in East Asia and Asian America

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ParkCOVER5.inddThe story of Catholicism and Protestantism in China, Japan, and Korea has been told in great detail. The existing literature is especially rich in documenting church and missionary activities as well as how varied regions and cultures have translated Christian ideas and practices. Less evident, however, are studies that contextualize Christianity within the larger economic, political, social, and cultural developments in each of the three countries and its diasporas.

The contributors to Encountering Modernity address such concerns and collectively provide insights into Christianity’s role in the development of East Asia and as it took shape among East Asians in the United States. The work brings together studies of Christianity in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan and its diasporas to expand the field through new angles of vision and interpretation. By moving beyond issues of missiology and church history, it asks how Christianity represented an encounter with modernity that set into motion tremendous changes throughout East Asia and in transnational diasporic communities in the United States.

Edited by Albert L. Park and David K. Yoo

2014 | 264 pages | 7 illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-8248-3947-5 | $42.00s | Cloth
Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies

 

Association for Asian American Studies Conference in San Francisco and the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference in Chicago

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University of Hawai‘i Press is exhibiting at two conferences this week, showcasing new and recent titles from our Spring catalog as well as our Asian Studies catalog.

In San Francisco from April 16-19 at the Grand Hyatt for the Association for Asian American Studies Conference, acquisitions editor Masako Ikeda will be available to meet with prospective authors.

In Chicago, editor Stephanie Chun will be at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference from April 16-19 at the Marriott Chicago.

Some titles to look out for at both meetings: From Fu Manchu to Kung Fu Panda: Images of China in American Film, Scrutinized!: Surveillance in Asian North American Literature, Dubious Gastronomy: The Culture Politics of Eating Asian in the USA, and Capturing Contemporary Japan: Differentiation and Uncertainty.

Please visit us to see our latest titles and take advantage of the conference offer of a 20% discount and free shipping in the U.S. Free shipping applies only to orders received or placed at the conference.

Scrutinized!: Surveillance in Asian North American Literature

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ChiuCOVER3.inddChang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker, Kerri Sakamoto’s The Electrical Field, Don Lee’s Country of Origin, Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Susan Choi’s A Person of Interest. These and a host of other Asian North American detection and mystery titles were published between 1995 and 2010. Together they reference more than a decade of Asian North America monitoring that includes internment, campaign financing, espionage, and post-9/11 surveillance. Monica Chiu reveals how Asian North American novels’ fascination with mystery, detection, spying, and surveillance is a literary response to anxieties over race.

Scrutinized! is broadly about oversight and insight. The race policing of the past has been subsumed under post-racism—an oversight based on a persistent visual construction of race. Readers revisit Oriental visions, or Asian stereotypes, and then encounter official documentation on major events, such as the Japanese American and Japanese Canadian internment. The former visions, which endure, and the latter documents, diplomatically forgotten, shape how Asian subjects were and are scrutinized and to what effect. They determine which surveillance images remain emblazoned in a nation’s collective memory and which face political burial.

2014 | 208 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8248-3842-3 | $45.00s | Cloth
Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies

 

Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA

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Ku-Dubious GastronomyDubious Gastronomy is the inaugural title in the Food in Asia and the Pacific series—

California roll, Chinese take-out, American-made kimchi, dogmeat, monosodium glutamate, SPAM—all are examples of what Robert Ji-Song Ku calls “dubious” foods. Strongly associated with Asian and Asian American gastronomy, they are commonly understood as ersatz, depraved, or simply bad. In Dubious Gastronomy, Ku contends that these foods are viewed similarly to Asians in the United States, in that the Asian presence, be it culinary or corporeal, is often considered watered-down, counterfeit, or debased manifestations of the “real thing.” The American expression of Asianness is defined as doubly inauthentic—as insufficiently Asian and unreliably American when measured against a largely ideological if not entirely political standard of authentic Asia and America.

In critically considering the impure and hybridized with serious and often whimsical intent, he argues that while the notion of cultural authenticity is troubled, troubling, and troublesome, the apocryphal is not necessarily a bad thing: The dubious can be and is often quite delicious.

Profile of Jazz Artist Gabe Baltazar Airs on Voice of America

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The Paul Togawa Quartet, circa late 1950s.
The Paul Togawa Quartet, circa late 1950s. L to R: Gabe Baltazar, Paul Togawa, Dick Johnston, Buddy Woodson.

Broadcast journalist Heidi Chang‘s story on Gabe Baltazar Jr. as a pioneering Asian American jazz musician aired internationally on Voice of America. The show is archived on the VOA website; click here to read and listen (and comment!). It reveals just a sampling of what is in Gabe’s autobiography, If It Swings, It’s Music.

The Making of the First Korean President

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Lew-Making1stKoreanPresThe only full-scale history of Syngman Rhee’s early career in English was published nearly six decades ago. Now, Young Ick Lew uncovers little-known aspects of Rhee’s leadership roles prior to 1948, when he became the Republic of Korea’s first president. In The Making of the First Korean President: Syngman Rhee’s Quest for Independence, 1875–1948, Lew delves into Rhee’s background, investigates his abortive diplomatic missions, and explains how and why he was impeached as the head of the Korean Provisional Government in 1925. He analyzes the numerous personal conflicts between Rhee and other prominent Korean leaders, including some close friends and supporters who eventually denounced him as an autocrat.

Based on exhaustive research that incorporates archival records as well as secondary sources in Korean, English, and Japanese, The Making of the First Korean President meticulously lays out the key developments of Rhee’s pre-presidential career. This richly illustrated volume is essential reading for anyone with an interest in modern Korean history and will serve as a lasting portrait of one of the pivotal figures in the evolution of Korea as it journeyed from colonial suppression to freedom and security.

November 2013 | ISBN: 978-0-8248-3168-4 | $68.00 | Cloth

UHM First Annual Filipino Books and Curriculum Fair

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In recognition of Filipino American History Month, the 1st Annual Filipino Books & Curriculum Fair will be held at the UHM College of Education on Tuesday, October 29, 1:30 to 4:00pm. Come by Wist Hall 133 and visit our display, as well as that of UH Bookstore and 15 other exhibitors.

Titles that we’ll be showing and taking orders for include language books by Teresita Ramos and Precy Espiritu, novels by José Rizal, and a sampling from distributed publishers Ateneo de Manila University Press and the University of the Philippines Press — the former is the publisher of Patricio Abinales’ Making Mindanao and Orthodoxy and History in the Muslim Mindanao Narrative. Works by Filipino American writers include Peter Bacho’s Entrys and Gabe Baltazar’s If It Swings, It’s Music and interviews of Jessica Hagedorn and Al Robles are featured in Words Matter: Conversations with Asian American Writers. Our display will also show books on the Hawai‘i plantation experience, for example, Tomorrow’s Memories: A Diary, 1924–1928 by Angeles Monrayo.

For more information, click here.

A Reading by Gary Pak at Revolution Books

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Pak-BrothersOn Sunday, October 27, at 3 pm, all-volunteer independent Revolution Books (Honolulu) will host a reading by Gary Pak for his new book, Brothers under a Same Sky. Here’s the store’s perspective on the book:

This is a fascinating novel about the psychological toll on Korean Americans during and after the Korean War and the ethical and moral decisions they were forced to make. Those of you who know Gary Pak, know that in this novel he’s speaking very personally. Perhaps the dedication “in the memory of Uncle Kenam” says it all. While the book directly relates to the Korean War, it is especially fitting that this reading will take place near the 12th anniversary of the U.S. war on Afghanistan – a war where hundreds of thousands of young men and women had to make similar decisions as those Nam Ki faced.

Korean American Writers Panel on CKS Literary Night

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CKS Literary NightAs part of the celebration to mark the 110th anniversary of the first Korean immigration to Hawai‘i, four Hawai‘i-based Korean American writers will read and discuss their work on Thursday, September 26, 7:00 p.m., at the Center for Korean Studies, UH Mānoa. Presenters with UH Press books include novelist Gary Pak (Brothers under a Same Sky; A Ricepaper Airplane; Children of a Fireland) and documentarian Roberta Chang (The Koreans in Hawai‘i: A Pictorial History; When the Korean World in Hawaii Was Young). The other two participants are award-winning author Chris McKinney and poet/fiction writer Brenda Kwon.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, see the CKS announcement, or call the Center at (808) 956-7041.

Related link: Listen to the Hawai‘i Public Radio interview with Gary Pak about his most recent book, Brothers under a Same Sky.

NPR Highlights Jazz Musician Gabe Baltazar Jr.

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Baltazar-If It Swings, It's Music

On September 28, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday will broadcast journalist Heidi Chang‘s profile of Gabe Baltazar Jr. as a pioneering Asian American jazz artist. The piece draws from his UH Press book, If It Swings, It’s Music, and features in-person interviews with the legendary saxophonist and coauthor Theo Garneau, along with some of Baltazar’s musical highlights.

Weekend Edition Saturday is a two-hour program hosted by NPR’s Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon. Please check your local NPR-affiliate listings for air times. For those in Hawai‘i, the Weekend Edition show will be on HPR-2, starting at 5 a.m. HST (O‘ahu listeners can tune in to KIPO 89.3).

UPDATE: The story is archived on the NPR site for listening and viewing. Click here.

To hear more from Gabe, Hawai‘i Public Radio‘s The Conversation aired an interview by Chris Vandercook in August last year.

For a sultry treat, listen to Gabe’s performance of Santana’s “Europa” at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum on July 22, 2012. . .when he was 82—fantastic!

Gary Pak Reads “Brothers” at Box Jelly

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GaryPak@BoxJellyOnline newsmagazine The Hawaii Independent has partnered with Box Jelly to present a new event series called Quotes, “evening[s] of smart conversation and great company.” For the inaugural Quotes on Wednesday, August 28, 6:30 p.m., the modern Korean and Korean-American experience will be explored with UH-Mānoa English professor Gary Pak, who will present his new novel, Brothers under a Same Sky. He will be joined by Annie Koh, UHM PhD candidate in urban & regional planning, who will contribute additional commentary and discussion.

Sign up here or at the door. Read an excerpt from the book posted earlier on Hawaii Independent. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

A New Novel by Gary Pak

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Brothers under a Same SkyNam Kun and Nam Ki Han, brothers born on a Wahiawa sugar plantation, could not have been more different. Pragmatic and stubborn, Nam Kun dutifully supported his family but refused to become “one Christian fanatic” like his widowed mother and youngest sibling, Nam Ki. When Nam Ki is drafted into the army at the start of the Korean War, he tells Nam Kun that as a Christian he cannot kill. “You gotta do it,” Nam Kun replies, thinking the war will make a man of this “mama’s boy. ”

Nam Ki finds refuge from the chaos and brutality of life as a soldier in his love for a young Korean woman, a Christian. He returns after the war to search for her and discovers she has become a prostitute. With his sense of reality shattered, Nam Ki must choose between his faith and all that he has witnessed in war-torn Korea. Brothers under a Same Sky explores the social and psychological turmoil experienced by Korean Americans during and after the war but, more importantly, it examines the individual’s decision to keep—or betray—a fundamental belief in human goodness.

A Latitude 20 Book
July 2013 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3605-4 / $19.00 (PAPER)

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