Barnes & Noble may roll their eyes, but I was really excited to learn about the annotated bibliography in the Yellowface special edition! My reaction can't *possibly* have anything to do with being a fellow grad student... /s. I was wondering: will the the essay be published anywhere else? I plan to purchase the special edition regardless, but it would be great to know if the essay will be accessible elsewhere as well. Looking forward to reading it!
P.S. Would I be correct in understanding that both the "BN Exclusive" and "Signed Book" editions on the B&N website contain the essay? Or is it the former only?
Just finished my Yellowface ARC - most visceral reaction I’ve had from a book in a long, long time. My hands were actually physically shaking by the end. Seeing this in my inbox was such a treat; I’m exicted to read the bibliography when it comes out! Haven’t really processed it all yet but when the issue of authenticity is brought up people are never telling you what a story is meant to be authentic /to/. There is hardly a single model for hyphenated American experience. I think the problem is the fact that there’s so little space reserved for people of color in publishing, and that makes it seem like there /has/ to be that one perfect model to represent every single Asian American or other marginalized narrative ever. Because they only ever have the space for /one/ narrative. Thank you so much for sharing!
Went to hear Nicole Chung read from her Ä Living Memory” last night and be a part of a rather delightful interview. The event was sponsored by Loyalty Books & Culture, in Washington DC, at the beautiful Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library. The independent bookstore is Asian and African American owned. Another place for a stop in the future?/ ✋ kindest and warm regards/.
I go insane over anything you write!! But, as an international reader from a third world country... do u know how we can get to read the exclusive essay? :")
“Authentic" -already to be used with caution-even in an adjectival sense, where the essential is distinguished from the accidental; "inauthentic," where something broken is implied, an expression which is not immediately appropriate to what is expressed; The jargon of authenticity … is a trademark of societalized chosenness, … sub-language as superior language. Theodore Adorno
With this reference, I show my own training in Western Philosophy and it was the first thing I thought of while reading your post. You mention that Ÿellow Face” has a lot to do with representation. I believe that I see that clearly while I am silently, though eagerly, awaiting my own BN copy. I can, we can, unpack the point that Adorno is trying to make so as to be able to really refer to it as an illuminating reference. Yet, just posting it is, I think, sufficient for now.
I lived and worked in Qingdao China for six years. Also, in Ha Long Viet Nam for two. I came to love Southeast Asia and the people: Lao, Cambodia, Thailand. It was I who went through, at first, the question with regard to my own authenticity. As a rather earnest practicing Buddhist, I think that I had it easier than most Westerners. All I genuinely desired was to become a part of the fabric os society, to partake in everything where I was welcome [There were very few places where I was not} It could be deemed that it was I who was being an inauthentic Chinese, as is touched on, I gather, in "Yellow Face.” I was never trying to be authentically Chinese. It never crossed my mind to try to be so. After a couple of years my friends would still poke fun at some of my Americanisms, yet always in good spirits. The differences between us, native language primarily, receded in the background and we lived, and laughed, and prayed together. My esteemed friends allowed me to become a part of family that we were forming. I feel very special about this and am still in regular contact with them though I have returned to the States.
When Robin described the incident regarding the shape of his eyes In “Babel,” I truly cried for him.
I also came to truly love Viet Nam and the Vietnamese people. Never was there a mention of the war, or a display of a grudge. Maybe became somewhat an issue of the past, but my authenticity in Viet Nam was questioned less than it had been initially in China. My deepest friends are in Ha Long. There was always someone who would be eager to lend me a hand if I needed one. I am lucky having a little “extensive” family there. We are in contact very many times during the month via Zallo or WhatsApp. The ones who have the issue are the Americans. As soon as I mention in job interviews that I was in Viet Nam, there was only one thing that came to mind: Viet Nam is nothing more than that jungle place where the US went to war for many years. Talk about issues regarding authenticity! Very few understand how gentle the Vietnamese people are and how much they want to be recognised as important members of the world community.
Forgive me Ms. Kung for “going on and on.” It is the sheer power of your writing, and the beautiful way that you address topics that are are very dear to me, which makes you a special writer close to my heart. I, too, am eager to read the appendix to "Yellow Face.” Your work is not objectified, or commodified, in my life’s purview. Though I have made many friends in China and Southeast Asia, I am also concerned about my own authenticity. It makes me happy, though, to know that you wouldn’t ever question that of me and that we would be able to stand side-by-side as good friends.
The picture you posted was really sweet and I am so pleased that you had a chance to “goof-off”while at your publishers'. There are many things that I would care, very much, to speak with you about in conversation. “Politics and Prose,” the best {perhaps?} independent bookstore here in the District of Columbia is definitely a venue for you. Washington is thought of in may ways, yet it is a city where people actually live, work, and go to school. Swing around when you can. I would feel honoured to have a field trip to one of the many museums that are all open for free. Perhaps, being one of your faithful readers, you’d appreciate that the National Portrait Gallery is my favourite.
Barnes & Noble may roll their eyes, but I was really excited to learn about the annotated bibliography in the Yellowface special edition! My reaction can't *possibly* have anything to do with being a fellow grad student... /s. I was wondering: will the the essay be published anywhere else? I plan to purchase the special edition regardless, but it would be great to know if the essay will be accessible elsewhere as well. Looking forward to reading it!
P.S. Would I be correct in understanding that both the "BN Exclusive" and "Signed Book" editions on the B&N website contain the essay? Or is it the former only?
Just finished my Yellowface ARC - most visceral reaction I’ve had from a book in a long, long time. My hands were actually physically shaking by the end. Seeing this in my inbox was such a treat; I’m exicted to read the bibliography when it comes out! Haven’t really processed it all yet but when the issue of authenticity is brought up people are never telling you what a story is meant to be authentic /to/. There is hardly a single model for hyphenated American experience. I think the problem is the fact that there’s so little space reserved for people of color in publishing, and that makes it seem like there /has/ to be that one perfect model to represent every single Asian American or other marginalized narrative ever. Because they only ever have the space for /one/ narrative. Thank you so much for sharing!
Went to hear Nicole Chung read from her Ä Living Memory” last night and be a part of a rather delightful interview. The event was sponsored by Loyalty Books & Culture, in Washington DC, at the beautiful Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library. The independent bookstore is Asian and African American owned. Another place for a stop in the future?/ ✋ kindest and warm regards/.
I go insane over anything you write!! But, as an international reader from a third world country... do u know how we can get to read the exclusive essay? :")
My reply was jumped-down/ I apologize
“Authentic" -already to be used with caution-even in an adjectival sense, where the essential is distinguished from the accidental; "inauthentic," where something broken is implied, an expression which is not immediately appropriate to what is expressed; The jargon of authenticity … is a trademark of societalized chosenness, … sub-language as superior language. Theodore Adorno
With this reference, I show my own training in Western Philosophy and it was the first thing I thought of while reading your post. You mention that Ÿellow Face” has a lot to do with representation. I believe that I see that clearly while I am silently, though eagerly, awaiting my own BN copy. I can, we can, unpack the point that Adorno is trying to make so as to be able to really refer to it as an illuminating reference. Yet, just posting it is, I think, sufficient for now.
I lived and worked in Qingdao China for six years. Also, in Ha Long Viet Nam for two. I came to love Southeast Asia and the people: Lao, Cambodia, Thailand. It was I who went through, at first, the question with regard to my own authenticity. As a rather earnest practicing Buddhist, I think that I had it easier than most Westerners. All I genuinely desired was to become a part of the fabric os society, to partake in everything where I was welcome [There were very few places where I was not} It could be deemed that it was I who was being an inauthentic Chinese, as is touched on, I gather, in "Yellow Face.” I was never trying to be authentically Chinese. It never crossed my mind to try to be so. After a couple of years my friends would still poke fun at some of my Americanisms, yet always in good spirits. The differences between us, native language primarily, receded in the background and we lived, and laughed, and prayed together. My esteemed friends allowed me to become a part of family that we were forming. I feel very special about this and am still in regular contact with them though I have returned to the States.
When Robin described the incident regarding the shape of his eyes In “Babel,” I truly cried for him.
I also came to truly love Viet Nam and the Vietnamese people. Never was there a mention of the war, or a display of a grudge. Maybe became somewhat an issue of the past, but my authenticity in Viet Nam was questioned less than it had been initially in China. My deepest friends are in Ha Long. There was always someone who would be eager to lend me a hand if I needed one. I am lucky having a little “extensive” family there. We are in contact very many times during the month via Zallo or WhatsApp. The ones who have the issue are the Americans. As soon as I mention in job interviews that I was in Viet Nam, there was only one thing that came to mind: Viet Nam is nothing more than that jungle place where the US went to war for many years. Talk about issues regarding authenticity! Very few understand how gentle the Vietnamese people are and how much they want to be recognised as important members of the world community.
Forgive me Ms. Kung for “going on and on.” It is the sheer power of your writing, and the beautiful way that you address topics that are are very dear to me, which makes you a special writer close to my heart. I, too, am eager to read the appendix to "Yellow Face.” Your work is not objectified, or commodified, in my life’s purview. Though I have made many friends in China and Southeast Asia, I am also concerned about my own authenticity. It makes me happy, though, to know that you wouldn’t ever question that of me and that we would be able to stand side-by-side as good friends.
The picture you posted was really sweet and I am so pleased that you had a chance to “goof-off”while at your publishers'. There are many things that I would care, very much, to speak with you about in conversation. “Politics and Prose,” the best {perhaps?} independent bookstore here in the District of Columbia is definitely a venue for you. Washington is thought of in may ways, yet it is a city where people actually live, work, and go to school. Swing around when you can. I would feel honoured to have a field trip to one of the many museums that are all open for free. Perhaps, being one of your faithful readers, you’d appreciate that the National Portrait Gallery is my favourite.
˜˜please accept my deepest respect and gratitude/
I always look forward to your newsletters. Here's hoping you are given extra wordcounts wherever you go!