Eleanor Ty
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040887
- eISBN:
- 9780252099380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040887.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter looks at repercussions of the sense of failure in two stories of second-generation Asian immigrant women who grew up assimilated into North American culture and became successful ...
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This chapter looks at repercussions of the sense of failure in two stories of second-generation Asian immigrant women who grew up assimilated into North American culture and became successful professionals but who experience a crisis and fall into depression. Mimi, a character in Catherine Hernandez's play Singkil (2009), and journalist Jan Wong both suffer from a breakdown that forces them to rethink or reassess their priorities and identities. Singkil is, in part, a coming-of-age story, while Out of the Blue (2012) is a memoir of workplace depression. Though different in genre, these two works recount Asianfails that critique the model minority discourse, and they also show the links between private health and professional, social trauma.Less
This chapter looks at repercussions of the sense of failure in two stories of second-generation Asian immigrant women who grew up assimilated into North American culture and became successful professionals but who experience a crisis and fall into depression. Mimi, a character in Catherine Hernandez's play Singkil (2009), and journalist Jan Wong both suffer from a breakdown that forces them to rethink or reassess their priorities and identities. Singkil is, in part, a coming-of-age story, while Out of the Blue (2012) is a memoir of workplace depression. Though different in genre, these two works recount Asianfails that critique the model minority discourse, and they also show the links between private health and professional, social trauma.
Eleanor Ty
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040887
- eISBN:
- 9780252099380
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040887.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Asianfail examines literary and filmic works by contemporary Asian Americans and Asian Canadians that deal with failure and unhappiness. While the hashtag #Asianfail pokes fun at cultural ...
More
Asianfail examines literary and filmic works by contemporary Asian Americans and Asian Canadians that deal with failure and unhappiness. While the hashtag #Asianfail pokes fun at cultural stereotypes of Asians on social media, the myth of the model minority has serious negative consequences for many young people who feel pressure and anxiety when they do not succeed in professional careers. This book looks at how novelists, such as Ruth Ozeki, Madeleine Thien, Alex Gilvarry, and lê thi diem thúy reveal the "cruel optimism" that characterizes ordinary existence for many people in the 21st century. Films such as The Debut, Red Doors,and Saving Face query immigrant aspirations of the older generation and the feasibility of the American dream. The protagonists in the graphic novels of Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, Keshni Kashyap and Mari Araki express their ugly and painful feelings as they grow up, while Jan Wong and Catherine Hernandez grapple with work and stress-related depression. In Linda Ohama's Obaachan's Garden and Catherine Hernandez' performance, even the aged feel precarity and are burdened with secrets of the past. These works interrogate and expose the limits of our neoliberal notions of the good life and happiness.Less
Asianfail examines literary and filmic works by contemporary Asian Americans and Asian Canadians that deal with failure and unhappiness. While the hashtag #Asianfail pokes fun at cultural stereotypes of Asians on social media, the myth of the model minority has serious negative consequences for many young people who feel pressure and anxiety when they do not succeed in professional careers. This book looks at how novelists, such as Ruth Ozeki, Madeleine Thien, Alex Gilvarry, and lê thi diem thúy reveal the "cruel optimism" that characterizes ordinary existence for many people in the 21st century. Films such as The Debut, Red Doors,and Saving Face query immigrant aspirations of the older generation and the feasibility of the American dream. The protagonists in the graphic novels of Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, Keshni Kashyap and Mari Araki express their ugly and painful feelings as they grow up, while Jan Wong and Catherine Hernandez grapple with work and stress-related depression. In Linda Ohama's Obaachan's Garden and Catherine Hernandez' performance, even the aged feel precarity and are burdened with secrets of the past. These works interrogate and expose the limits of our neoliberal notions of the good life and happiness.
