In meeting with Chico on Wednesday, I feel encouraged with my next steps for this paper. I could picture myself laying out the books, films, and class notes that I have read and recorded this quarter and plug in themes and knowledge gained into my paper. I want to fill out my paper and give it more depth because right now I feel like it is just a run on sentence of different thoughts. But a lot of the thoughts in my paper have come out through the topics we have been exploring through the weeks of class.
I am going to do a rough draft reflection of how these books relate to and can be woven into my paper. This will encourage me to keep thinking about my paper over the break!
Asian American History: A Very Short Introduction by Madeline Yuan-yin Hsu
Reading this book was important to gain a wide scale view of different APIA cultures under the umbrella of Asian American. I enjoyed getting to learn about the Philippines and was interested to find out that Pilipino’s came to the Americas a really long time ago and were maybe one of the first APIA groups to be in what would eventually be the U.S. This book relates to my paper because it complicates the narrative of what it means to be APIA and shows how different ethnic groups are. In my paper I am exploring the complexity of what it means to be Filipina/Irish and white.
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
This book slapped me in the face with the importance of gaining more knowledge about the wrongs America has done to non white people. Like the imprisonment of Japanese/Americans, Chinese labor on the railroads, Chinese exclusion act, U.S. occupation in Samoa and Guam, violence, oppression, racism, etc., these subjects are not being taught about and need to be learned and remembered and fully understood. This urges me to uncover more truths about America’s involvement in the Philippines, and represent that narrative. This is represented in food, how food is changed through colonization and health is negatively impacted.
Donald Duk by Frank Chin
This book presented Donald going through stages of ethnic identity development which is a topic in my paper for sure. He moves from hating/feeling embarrassed by his ethnic identity and trying to cater to whiteness, to finding out more about his culture and exploring more about who he is and where he comes from and finding more peace and belonging in this process.
Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung
This works into my paper because of the symbolism of the garden and theme of roots through the book. One aspect of my paper might talk about inter generational trauma and personal trauma and this book definitely talks about these topics.
Dark Blue Suit by Peter Bacho
I appreciated this book because it was local knowledge of Filipinos on the west coast and specifically in Seattle, mostly just Bacho’s personal stories along with glimpses into the community. This causes me to be more curious into looking into Filipino’s contribution in the food and farming industry. Like the salmon canning in Alaska brought together Filipino’s with Indigenous women, conversations bring up the intersection between race and sex even further, along with exploring identity.
We Should Never Meet by Aimee Phan
Through this book, there was a longing for home and belonging that was filled in an unsatisfying yet very real way. The characters didn’t have perfect stories that connected with a happy ending. It just showed parts of their journey and let the rest up to the reader. This is important to remember. My essay is going to be a snapshot of my thoughts and feelings right now. This book was super deep, intense, and kind of unsatisfying, which I don’t think my paper will be at that level, but it is an encouragement to remember that papers are a process and it is not the final thoughts that I will hold for the rest of my life.
Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers by Lois-Ann Yamanaka
This book had so many illustrations of the father and family killing meat and eating it. This shows the traditional way which transitioned into being the poor way that people had food to eat. These stories illustrate how the dad shared stories with Lovey during their car rides to get birds or hunt animals and how family knowledge and generational understanding was passed through these. This relates to my paper because in my experience food and sitting around a table is one place where these conversations can thrive.