Asian-American Books

This book is an amazing piece of research and writing. I thought I was fairly well-informed on the issue, but it definitely changed my thinking.

The book also is a courageous effort, challenging the conventional wisdom on such issues as Palestinian refugees and Israeli settlements. The facts clearly support the conclusions.

Journalism schools should make this required reading for reporting students. The introduction alone could form the core of a solid course on "objectivity."

If someone mentions `Bali' one of the first images that will come into your mind will probably be rice terraces. The first Austronesian colonists introduced rice to the coastal regions of Bali several thousand years ago, but it was by no means certain that rice cultivation would expand into the rugged interior of the island. Ancient Balinese farmers had to find ways to move massive amounts of water through kilometres of solid rock. Water is necessary for wet rice agriculture. They had to perfect a new engineering system constructing canals, tunnels and aqueducts and they did.

Having done that they had to devise a workable and fair scheme for sharing the water. Those farmers downstream are at the mercy of the farmers upstream as they control the water flow. It was done through the subak irrigation societies, which are first mentioned in the 11th century, and the network of water temples. The subaks are very democratic societies and everyone who owns a rice paddy must belong to one. I do. The Dutch and their successors, the Indonesian government, did not understand the power of the water temples. It was not until well into the 1980s that the role of the water temples in setting cropping patterns and controlling irrigation was appreciated, thanks largely to the American anthropologist Stephen Lansing. The Green Revolution, which had its benefits, caused chaos in Bali as the water temples were ignored totally. Pests got out of control.

In this book Stephen Lansing describes his field research over a number of years. He and his team interviewed and videotaped many farmers in the subak organisations in the area around Pujung, which is not far from Ubud, where I live, and describes various conflicts that arose. He tested the decisions made using computer simulations and found that the decisions made were the best that could be made in the circumstances. He was intrigued, however, about the human element. After all it is very tempting for greedy farmers upsteam to keep more water for themselves and grow more rice. What is to prevent them doing that? He discovered that if they did it would result in more pests so it would not be in their interests to do so.

Stephen Lansing has a vast knowledge of Bali and has written many papers and other books about Balinese life. He writes in the clearest language and goes off on various tangents from time to time - always fascinating subjects such as human sacrifices, rat cremations, witchcraft and how they abolished caste in Pujung.

The supreme water temple is Ulun Danu Batur on the rim of Mount Batur. This is the second most important temple in Bali where Dewi Danu, the Goddess of the Lake resides. She refused to accept marriage and subordination to her brother and founded her own temple where she could be independent. It is a unique temple in many respects. Stephen Lansing has spend a considerable time researching it and writes an intriguing chapter describing the forty-five deities of the temple, the trance mediums, who are ideally opposite-sex twins, the twenty-four male priests, half of whom are regarded as female, and the twenty village Elders, the four most senior of which may go through a `marriage' ceremony to each other, but have not done so for the past century.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a good understanding of matters that are not generally apparent to the ordinary person, whether they are Balinese or just visiting Bali for a short time.

Murni
Ubud, Bali

Peter Parker was the fourth American missionary to be sent to China, and the first medical missionary. His wife was the first Western woman to live in China. As a sideline, he also served as a US government diplomat, interpreter, and translator, becoming a significant force in determing America's diplomatic relations with the Middle Kingdom. He lived in China, mostly Canton, from 1834 to 1857 and then retired and moved back to the US. Despite being physically timid, he survived a lot of adventures, including typhoons and being bombarded by the Japanese.

This is a typical academic book: expensive, 200 pages long, extensive notes and bibiography, a few illustrations, and an index. It's better that most, perhaps reflecting the quality of the diaries and other records that Parker left behind and perhaps reflecting the quality of the writing. The author discusses with impressive authority Parker's medical as well as his diplomatic skills. Parker was apparently quite good at both.

This is a worthwhile book about the early days of American relations with China as well as being a biography of a significant American historical figure. Persons with interest in missionaries, 19th century medicine, or China will enjoy it.

Smallchief

From the horse's mouth in many cases, this book chronicles how the F-4 was actually used in combat. Highly recommended.

This is a Great Play book. For as much amount of money it is it is worth it. It had lots of good plays. Most of the characters are storytellers and Animals. Well Read this one. If you don't you will be missing!

Unlike most classic Chinese literature,the Chin P'ing Mei breaths with surprisingly real characters with timeless motives: love, hate, fear, ambition, sex... If the soap opera existed when the book was written, The Plum in the Golden Vase would have had a following equal to Dallas. Not only are the book's characters sympathetic and fully developed, one actually cares about and identifies with them. Roy's translation reads more like a modern novel than a beloved Asian classic. Unlike earlier translations which sought to spare the reader some of the randier details of upper class private life, Roy presents all the particulars in a matter-of-fact manner that even today has the power to astonish the modern reader with it's open celebration of decandance. A great deal of the intended social commentary concerning the moral and spritual corruption of the time period will be apparent only to Asian historians and scholars; however, as with all great works, it may be read and enjoyed on many levels. To non-Chinese readers, keeping track of the multitude of unfamiliar names can be a problem, but there is a complete index of names included in the book but, although irksome at times, it is possible to keep track of everyone, even the servants,in this sprawling, epic work. I can't think of a better introduction to Chinese culture and history than the Chin P'ing Mei. Here's hoping the publication of Volume Three is not long in the making.

Received my copy of Volume 3 of the late David Roy's "The Plum in the Golden Vase" when returning home from office and just couldn't put it down until 3.00am. I am sure, like others who have the interest in this novel, would regret the untimely passing away of David Roy before he could complete his translation. I wonder if PRINCETON UNIVERSITY will fund another scholar to take up where DR has left off.

A new 279 page comparative analysis of the poetics of T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams is presented in Poetry, Politics & Culture: Argument In The Work Of Eliot, Pound, Stevens & Williams by Harold Kaplan (Professor Emeritus of English and American literature at Northwestern University and formerly of Rutgers University and Bennington College). Professor Kaplan uses the work of each poet to present two basic counter viewpoints: Pound and Eliot embraced a more orthodox, expatriate view of the poetic imagination grounded in outward forms of European tradition (even in Pound's case, embracing Italian fascism), while Williams and Stevens, whose poetics evolved in the wake of Emerson and Thoreau, chose a definition of poetry and poetics that was centered on nature, and transcended, or disregarded the old ideas of Christian sin, guilt, and cultural hierarchy. All four poets were seeking to redefine cultural values through poetry in a time of change and cultural and political crisis following World War I. Thus the argument becomes a mirror of opposite approaches, as seen through the poets' writings. Professor Kaplan takes the reader through a thorough consideration of each poet's background, poetics and related writings to arrive at his conclusions. Only then does he state, "If my theme has a moral conclusion it is one I have mentioned. The protagonist in the drama of poetry and life is not nature, not divinity, not history or tradition, and not a culture. It is "major man" wherever he or she is found (p. 252)." Professor Kaplan carefully lists his extra sources, including works of Emmanuel Levinas, Bakhtin, Mandelshtam, and Celan, in three Appendices and in a plethora of footnotes. Recommended for undergraduate and graduate students of American Studies, literature, poetry and history, Poetry, Politics, & Culture is not light reading, but it is very clearly written and represents definitive thinking about America's intellectual and poetic history at its finest.

Prompted to write about the lynching - after watching "Birth of a Nation" to be perfectly honest, I did not know where to turn - so, logically, I searched the stacks at the library. An interesting troika of books almost seemed to jump into my hands - metaphorically, of course. The link is the Imperial project. The books: (1) Lynching in America: A History in Documents edited by Christopher Waldrep; (2) Positively No Filipinos Allowed: Building Communities and Discourse edited by Antonio T. Tiongson, Jr., Edgardo V. Gutierrez, and Ricardo V. Gutierrez; finally, (3) Richard Drinnon's Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian-Hating and Empire-Building [this one actually recommended]. Dealing with the confluence of hate on the three groups that have been the target of so much of it: Indians, African-Americans, and Filipinos are the loci of this examination.

Christopher Waldrep's edited work Lynching in America: A History in Documents is compilation of bits and pieces from source documents such as: articles from newspapers and magazines, parts of novels, transcripts of court decisions as well as congressional testimonies are the basis for the "documents" in the latter part of the title. On the trail to "discover" the origins, development, and resilience of the lynching phenomenon, this thought-provoking collection is less "history" but arguably more narrative. In this volume, Waldrep looks at various aspects such as the relationship of lynching to violence perpetuated outside the rule of law and examines in almost footnote form how these texts are mobilized by advocated of conflicting agendas. This collection of source documents is an attempt, I would argue, to bring new life, new meaning to the discourse of lynching. It starts at the very beginning - as in where did the word come from? There is no definitive and easy explanation forthcoming. The "power of the word" is arguably "a rhetorical dagger ... deployed by a host of actors in a variety of circumstances" (Waldrep xvi, xvii). So lynching then starts out the narrative - it began to grow into a different project; lynching is part of the bigger issue of discipline.

The "archive" shows that lynching is not a single dimension phenomenon - but that is certainly not a new argument - but its presentation here of the various perceptions and semantic plays on the word from the 18th to the 20th century certainly proves insightful. Waldrep explores (or uncovers) what seem to be mistaken notions only a select few slaves were lynched - when in fact it was seen as the supreme right of slave owners. In reality, several slaves were lynched - no matter how you semantically play it. Waldrep presents documents that show lynching to be beyond just a southern racial phenomenon. In this volume, Waldrep shows that the downturn of the lynching phenomenon is the confluence of "private enterprise--journalism--exposing lynching to national audiences" (Waldrep xix). What marks this volume as a deviation from conventional thinking about lynching is that instead of looking at the simplistic concept of "spectacle killings" of southern blacks lynching happened, Waldrep presents, in several venues and manifestations, persecuted diverse people, and eventually into "high-tech" with the "lynching" of Clarence Thomas (Waldrep 249). Even if the end result was not achieved - as in to come up with a definitive history and description, its complexity; I am sure Waldrep would argue, called for the very investigation he undertook. How does this tie in with Filipinos to African American and Indians who were conspicuous by their absence?

Positively No Filipinos Allowed: Building Communities and Discourse is a multi-disciplinary collection of unique writings that, of course, examines the ways in which the colonial history of the Philippines has fashioned Filipino-American character, society, and community development - this is the glue - the tie that binds. The essay that interests us for this examination is Nerissa Balce's "Filipino Bodies, Lynching, and the Language of Empire" since in this essay we started out by looking at lynching.

Balce explores the unique criticism leveled at African Americans in the 1900s by both the Filipino as well as the African American press for the commonality of their experience, "Why does the American Negro come from America to fight us when we are much friend to him, and me all the same as you. Why don't you fight those people in America that burn Negroes that made a beast of you that took the child from its mother's side and sold it?" (Quoted from a letter to the Indianapolis Freeman of 11 May 1900 - from soldier William Simms who as asked by a Filipino child)(Balce in Tiongson et al. 56-57).

Harkening to a shared sense of primitivism that, in so many words, "authorized" an "othering" that steeped in "civilizing missions" and "benevolent assimilations" continued a tradition of hate and condescension that began with slavery and the Indian wars at the start of the 17th century, continued concurrently into the Indian issue, and as far as this writing is concerned with ending at the Philippines. Balce recounts yet another story, this time from the Wisconsin Weekly Advocate of 17 May 1900, "cursed them [Filipinos] as damned niggers, steal [from] and ravish them, rob them on the street of their small change, take from the fruit vendors whatever suited their fancy, and kick the poor unfortunate if he complains, desecrate their church property, and after fighting began, looted everything in sight, burning, robbing graves..." (Balce 57-58). Balce writes that this violence perpetuated by African Americans is called to question by Filipinos. This is an epiphany of sorts and at this moment of U.S. Empire is also the origin of an African American anti-imperialist paradigm that recognizes the connection in the violence meted out to Native Americans, African Americans, and colonized peoples such as Filipinos.

Balce also links the narrative of the tactics used on the Filipinos as a progression of the same kinds of violence meted out previously to the Indians, "The allusion to the "Indian wars" recalls Amy Kaplan's idea that wars "continue each other" through cyclic discourse that generate symbolic meanings which transpose and reinterpret earlier wars. Like the U.S. frontier, the Philippines would become a conquered territory for the Union" (Balce 52). Genocide is not just the mask but almost the necessary tool to bring civilization - fighting means resisting, and resisting is futile.

Richard Drinnon's Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian Hating and Empire Building' (1980), takes us to the next level of understanding. Facing the West is a volume of American history in which he records a string of consecutive genocides dealt by white settlers against peoples of color (the "blackening" if you will) on the premise that they are "savages" in need to civilizing. Drinnon starts with the genocide of the Pequods and continues on through to the Vietnam War. Along the way, the "continuation of violence" and the "recycling of images and discourses" lands squarely in the Philippines - with ironic, disastrous, and hypocritical results. This honest take is an uplifting trajectory off the beaten path from the dominant discourses that marshal the worst and most contradictory of sentiments - `progress'.

The chapter in Drinnon that interests us is "Chapters XXI - The Strenuous Life Abroad: "Marked Severities" in the Philippines." In this chapter Drinnon alters our understanding of the debates taking place at a time of empire joining it with the lynching and violence on the mainland (Drinnon 307, Waldrep 215, and Balce 52-58). So, what "authorized" such violence against the Filipinos? "What then was the debate about? It was about whether the U.S. Empire should be hemispheric or global, and secondarily about the nature of the constitution; did that document follow the flag? On this less important issue, Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada put the issue succinctly on February 20, 1900: "The difference between the imperialists and the anti-imperialists... is that the imperialists wish to expand out territory and to contract our Constitution. The anti-imperialists are opposed to any expansion of territory which, as a matter of necessity, arising from the ignorance and inferiority of the people occupying it, makes free constitutional government impracticable or undesirable (Congressional Record, XXXIII, 1996)" (Drinnon 308). With the recycling of the "savage" theme, the Philippines is seen as a burden - a White Man's burden - in fact, "no better than Indians" (Drinnon 310-311). The dead in Santa Ana look jarringly similar to the dead at Wounded Knee (Drinnon 330-331). Marking for future reference that it might be even benign to say that the more things changed the more they stayed the same - when in fact, the past informed, authorized, and justified the present and maybe even the future.

As a shared burden, U.S. imperial expansion meant an increase of racial violence against emancipated blacks and a brutal war of colonization against Filipinos who had barely ended their war with Spain" (Balce 58). On the "Other" is set loose the "benevolence" of tough love and the U.S. "civilizing mission" that leaves only carnage in its wake. The "carnage" of lynching that (according to Waldrep) is constantly changing and the resilience of which is still being debated.

Miguel Llora

This book of cartoons illustrates Jack Matsuoka's real life experiences as a Japanese American child interned in the Poston internment camp during World War II. It has been used as an illustration of an effective method of teaching students of all grade levels about the internment camp experience in teaching training courses. My personal favorite is the one where the young Jack slams the door in the faces of the FBI when they come to arrest his father.