Breaking the Asian American Identity - Literature review Example

Breaking the Asian – American Identity Introduction The question of defining one’s role through identity is one that is first seen by gender and ethnicity. The specific roles that each plays in terms of culture creates boundaries and definitions of what it means to belong to a certain class, gender or race. In Bone by Fae M. Ng and My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki, there are questions of identity and the boundaries that each of the characters has toward their personal assimilation of identity. Each of the novels creates a definition of what it means to belong to two separate identities, one which is Asian and the other which is American. By belonging to these two ethnic and class identities, there is the inability to belong to either side and instead the characters become a representation of belonging outside of every culture without the ability to assimilate to the current conditions. The concept of identity, in both of these novels, becomes one of representing the “neither” and living outside of the boundaries. Representing the Asian – American Identity In both novels, there is a question of identity through the Asian – American experience and the belief in the class and ethnicity that each of the character belong to. The first aspect of this is the immediate definitions of what it means to be Asian and how this creates a sense of identity and belonging. In Bone this begins with the concept of identity as a Chinese that is living in America. The identity that is created immediately creates the character as an outsider from both the Chinese and the American perspective. The narrator states “We were a family of three girls. By Chinese standards, that wasn’t lucky. In Chinatown, everyone knew our story…. Here’s another bone for the gossipmongers. On vacation recently, visiting Nina in New York, I got married. I didn’t marry on a whim – don’t worry, I didn’t do a green card number” (Ng, 14). The identity of the Asian – American, through these initial statements, immediately creates a set of boundaries on both sides. From the Chinese standards, the narrator is considered unlucky. However, the author also creates boundaries through the American standards as the author states that she didn’t do a “green card number.’ Creating a middle boundary on both sides then creates a representation of the Asian – American that doesn’t represent either the Chinese or the Americans. The inability to belong as a representation of the Asian – American identity is also a part of My Year of Meats. The narrator is represented first as an American that is living in a New York apartment and which has roots in Japan. The identity then moves into the background of Jane, which shows her as both Asian and American because of her history. The concept that is seen through the narration is that there is a continuous breaking and fraction of identity that is associated with being both Asian and American because of the expectations that are a part of both cultures. For instance, when speaking about her name, the narrator states that the father named her after little and her mother after big because of the superstitions that followed this. The symbolism that is a part of this initial identity of name shows that there is a continuous pull in identity. The narrator continues by saying that in Japan she is considered a “freak” because of her height, while in America, she was disregarded as a half. “In Japan this makes me a freak. After living there for a while, I simply gave up trying to fit in: I cut my hair short, dyed chunks of it green, and spoke in men’s Japanese. It suited me. Polysexual, polyracial, perverse…. Ironically, the real culture shock occurred when I left Japan and moved here to New York, to the East everyone looked weird, just like me. ‘half’ – neither here nor there” (Ozeki, 9). The statements by the narrator continue to show the half throughout the novel, where Jane is an outside observer and is fragmented as both a Japanese and an American and which doesn’t fit into either stereotype. Identity and Gender The division of identity and the fragmentation that both authors create is not only presented through the Asian – American experience. The fragmentation also continues with the gender that both experience, where neither fit into the expectations of belonging to a specific gender. Even though the characters in both hold a female gender identity, there is a continuous conflict with the traditional acceptance of the feminine. Instead, both become outsiders that are neither female nor male in their appearance and in the way that they act. Both stay on the outside with their gender identity because of the expectations of both Asia and America and the inconsistencies of what it means to belong to a gender within each of the countries. The gender identity that is presented not only defines belonging to neither gender, but also becomes a question of being on the outside because of the Asian – American identity. In Bones the narrator represents this through the belonging of gender to different cultures. In the Chinese culture, the feminine role is one that is considered as submissive and ‘unlucky.’ However, the author also states that there is a second set of boundaries and the inability to belong within the American identity. The expectations of the feminine and the masculine are seen to not have a place in society. For instance, the narrator refers to the marriage throughout the book as it was her own decision and was done without telling her parents. However, this moves against the Chinese roles for women and causes conflict in the family. The fear that it is shown through the book comes from the women who become accumulated to the American way of living and which lose their traditions and roots of the feminine (19). Showing these opposing sides then leads to the narrators as women becoming genderless and losing their identity of both feminine and masculine. The same loss and fragmentation of gender identity is displayed through Jane’s story in My Year of Meat. When referring to Japan, the narrator states that she fits in better with the men and becomes a part of the poly – gender because of her size and looks. At the same time, the American viewpoint of gender identity doesn’t accept Jane as either a female or male role. For instance, when John is speaking to her about gender identity, he states “We Japanese get weak genes through many centuries’ process of straight breeding. Like old fashioned cows. Make weak stock. But you are good and strong and modern girl from crossbreeding” (Ozeki, 43). This quote shows that there is not a clear presentation of gender identity, which is instead led by cross associations of gender and blurred boundaries of what it means to be feminine or masculine. The inability to accept gender through the male and female perspective continues with the assimilation that John goes through with his attractiveness to American women, as opposed to Asian women. This shows that gender identity is one that is directly affiliated with the concepts of not only the role of men and women, but also with ethnicity. Other points of the novel show the same compromises through Jane and the way that gender is perceived. The concept of gender identity becomes one of switched roles, fragmentation and the questioning of what is truth and fiction. For instance, after the meat documentary is released, it is shown in conjunction with “My American Wife!” The fact and fiction begin to move together, which becomes a representation of the true concept of gender identity and the perception of roles that continue to change. “I take a Japanese television crew out to Iowa to film a documentary about this American wife, we make a total fiction of the facts of her life, and now, a year later, she tells me that those facts have turned right around and aligned themselves with our fiction” (Ozeki, 360). Even though this statement is in reference to the documentary, there is also a sense of symbolism and questioning of what the facts and fiction of identity are. The relation to the identity of the American house wife, as well as the concept of displaying different gender roles create a specific association with gender that doesn’t belong to any sense of reality. The ethnicity of being an American housewife is one that conflicts with gender identity and which shows that the perceptions of gender identity are considered as fact, when they are not realistic. Class Identity Another concept that creates a clash of identity and the ability to define either side is related to the issues of class. In both of the novels, there are degrees of separation that come from being Asian – American and having different associations with the economy. The inability to meet specific boundaries and economic means from the American viewpoint, while having an association with wealth from the Asian standard, leads to the identity of class belonging to neither side, and instead piecing together several fragments of what each of the identities belongs to. In Bones, the question of class identity comes from belonging to America and Asia at the same time. The perspective of being Chinese is one that is looked in on from Americans as having wealth from the cultural identity. However, those that are living as Asian – Americans are on the outside of carrying the wealth. Belonging to Chinatown instead of being assimilated into the culture is one side of the class division as it leads to economic struggles. However, the identity carries a continuous contrast of what it means to have economic struggles that look like wealth from the other perspective. “So this is what Chinatown looks like from inside those dark Grayhound buses; this slow view, these strange color combinations, these narrow streets, this is what tourists come to see. I felt a small lightening up inside, because I knew, no matter what people saw, no matter how close they looked, our inside story is something entirely different. I knew the dangers of closing up, but I didn’t care. Right then, I didn’t want people looking in at us” (Ng, 142). The concept of class identity as an Asian – American is one that moves into a lack of understanding and boundaries that are a part of the culture. Not belonging to America or China in this book leads to the class division that not only affects the economics, such as the dangers of closing an empty shop too early. It also creates a clash with Americans that continue to look at the Chinese as a different economic division that doesn’t belong in the mainstream of the American class. The class divisions that are seen in My Year of Meats carry the same presentation and sense of controversy with identity. The divisions are not only seen in the aspects of society, but become apparent with shooting of the American housewife episodes and the expectations that are a part of the movie that is being worked through. There are instant divisions between John, who is from Tokyo but is constantly deciding to change the look and feel of the episodes because it is not American enough. The clash that happens is against Jane, who tries not to have the look as American or Japanese, but instead to fit different meanings and episodes. The clash that occurs is one that makes a statement that class is better if it is Americanized, as opposed to Japanese or Asian. More importantly, the difference in class becomes one of assimilation that is accepted within the country, as opposed to carrying any roots from different parts of the world. This continuous clash creates a division of class that comes from ethnicity, as opposed to different forms of economic structure. Lack of Assimilation and the Asian – American Identity The main controversy that the concept of identity creates in both novels is based on the idea of assimilating to an ethnicity, gender or class. The ethnic divisions are the foundational concepts that don’t allow the narrators to belong to either side. Instead, they are born with both American and Asian identities that lead them into belonging to neither side. While some of the Asian traditions are understood and accepted in the home, they also have boundaries when moving outside of the home and into the American culture. For the narrators in both stories, the assimilation occurs when there is not the ability to identify with either the Asian or the American ethnicity. The assimilation that creates specific boundaries and the inability to pass through these boundaries continues with issues of gender and class. The identity that comes from gender, economics and status are reflected not only in belonging to neither side. Both of the narrators show that they can’t assimilate to the traditional roles as Asian women or as American women. At the same time, there is the inability to assimilate to a class structure because they are always seen on the outside from both the Asian and American perspective. The roles of gender and class lead to the inability to assimilate not only because of the basic definitions of what is expected. More importantly, the boundaries are blurred and can’t be defined because of the ethnicity and the concept of belonging to both the Asian and American cultures. Conclusion In both novels, My Year of Meats and Bone, there are specific controversies that are a part of the Asian American experience. The inability to define identity from either an Asian or American association is the foundational problem that the narrators have. This leads into clashes and divisions with gender, race and class all which have differing expectations from both sides. As the narrators move through the stories, it can be seen that there are fragmented pieces of identity that are found because of the Asian - American experience. The narrators become a spectacle or a part of the “other” that isn’t able to assimilate or move into either society and which has to create a sense of identity through the inability to belong to any definition or boundary of being Asian – American. Works Cited Ng, Fae. Bone. Hyperion Books: New York, 1993. Ozeki, Ruth. My Year of Meats. Penguin Books: New York, 1999. Read More