To be honest, I was surprised at first to see Atomic Aztex included on a syllabus of Asian-American literature. My brain followed this thought sequence: "The Aztecs were from South America. How is that anywhere near Asia? Wouldn't this book be considered Latino/Hispanic/Latin American literature?" Being an inquisitive soul, I couldn't stop wondering how it connected to or fit the category of Asian American lit.
First idea: similar experiences. Our history is full of instances where 'colored' nations have been invaded, taken over, or had their people enslaved by 'white' nations. People that identify as Asian or Asian American and those who identify as Latino/Chicano/Hispanic can relate on this basis alone; a common oppressor. But how does the South American experience of oppression inform the Asian American experience? Possibly through sympathy for one another, similar struggles and ways of coping with racial prejudice or cultural assumptions, similar goals as people of color. It seemed far-fetched that this book would be on the syllabus just to emphasize solidarity, but it's possible.
Second idea: a spirit of subversion. Other authors we've read, such as Ishle Yi Park, confront and explore the reality of their ethnicities and their associated stereotypes by reclaiming pejorative words and redefining them, rewriting history, reminding readers that there is more than one version of the "truth" when it comes to history. Including this book in a course of Asian American lit subverts an expected notion that Asian Americans can only be those who were either born in China, Japan, Korea, or Vietnam and emigrated to the U.S. or children of immigrants from those countries. Although sub-categories remain, such as "Pacific Islander","South Asian", and "Middle Eastern", immigrants or children of immigrants from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Laos, and even Iraq (notice the presence of Amitava Kumar) can self-identify as Asian American.
Third idea: what the text itself addresses. To me, if issues of race and ethnic identity are addressed within the actual text of a work written by an author who identifies as Asian American, then the work itself is "Asian American lit". If a person who happens to call themselves Asian American writes a book about something and does not intentionally draw attention to their identity or to race/ethnic issues, it isn't necessarily Asian American lit. I wouldn't say that all scifi/fantasy novels written by Asian/Asian-American authors qualify, for instance; beyond a name, the reader might never be informed of the author's identity. With Atomic Aztex we have an interesting case, because although the text clearly addresses issues of race, cultural identity, and social structure, it doesn't appear to have a distinct connection to either Asia or America, beyond its critique of American society.
I guess this is the spirit of subversion yet again...the harder it is to categorize, then the harder Asian American lit as a whole is to stereotype. Categories do little but create divisions, which are what cause many of the global problems that Atomic Aztex describes.
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APRIL POST (pardon the extreme lateness) When I first saw this as the reading I thought we were branching out of Asian American literature to include other cultures for the sake of comparing and contrasting style and content. While reading the book, I could not find anything that related it to Asian American lit because it did not fall under the ideas I have come to label as Asian American lit. It did not sound like anything that we had read previously, which has now standardized itself as examples of Asian American Lit for me (although I know there are other forms/texts possible).
But then, reiterating theblondesicilian’s First idea, perhaps minorities have similar experiences. Then again, that seems much too simple and could be seen as offensive – offensive in such that minorities are similar because they are nonwhite, therefore are defined by whiteness and not their own culture, which is a bit presumptuous. (Also, interesting fact – as I am writing this, nonwhite does not show up as a spelling error – usually the use of ‘non’ necessitates the use of a hyphen or space between words, such as non athlete.)
Sometimes I will ask my friend why isn’t there a white club? After glaring she tells me, the world, the class, the college population, practically anywhere with the majority makes up the white club. To define literature then, it would make sense for the community to have boundaries as well; therefore what would constitute as white and white literature? The European, American etc. canon or just general literature? I ask this because I think it helps define white and nonwhite literatures by finding what separates the two because there seems to be confusion over what constitutes each.
So, in continuation, if the majority makes up the white community, then anyone a part of the minority would contribute to their nationality’s literature. As theblondesicilian states in her Third idea that an Asian American author who write sci-fi may not be counted as Asian American lit. But another way to see it is that an Asian American is undoubtedly going to be affected in society in such a way because he/she is Asian American, and thus anything they write can be considered as Asian American lit because their life’s experiences will influence their writing content, be it a small or large portion. Perhaps that is too broad or out there, but the boundaries defining the literatures are definitely hazy. Then again, perhaps, they are meant to be indefinable. Are there no answers in this world?
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