Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere in Contemporary Chinese Diaspora Poetry

An exploration of the burgeoning field of Anglophone Asian diaspora poetry, this book draws on the thematic concerns of Hong Kong, Asian-American and British Asian poets from the wider Chinese or East Asian diasporic culture to offer a transnational understanding of the complex notions of home, displacement and race in a globalised world. Located within current discourse surrounding Asian poetry, postcolonial and migrant writing, and bridging the fields of literary and cultural criticism with author interviews, this book provides close readings on established and emerging Chinese diasporic poets' work by incorporating the writers' own reflections on their craft through interviews with some of those featured. In doing so, Jennifer Wong explores the usefulness and limitations of existing labels and categories in reading the works of selected poets from specific racial, socio-cultural, linguistic environments and gender backgrounds, including Bei Dao, Li-Young Lee, Marilyn Chin, Hannah Lowe and Sarah Howe, Nina Mingya Powles and Mary Jean Chan. Incorporating scholarship from both the East and the West, Wong demonstrates how these poets' experimentation with poetic language and forms serve to challenge the changing notions of homeland, family, history and identity, offering new evaluations of contemporary diasporic voices.. "An exploration of the burgeoning field of Anglophone Asian diaspora poetry, this book draws on the thematic concerns of Hong Kong, Singaporean-Chinese, Asian-American and British Asian poets from the wider Chinese diasporic culture to offer a transnational understanding of the complex notions of home and race in a globalised world. Located within current discourse surrounding Asian poetry, postcolonial and migrant writing, and bridging the fields of literary and cultural criticism with creative writing, this book provides broader contexts for key Chinese diasporic poets' work by incorporating the writers' own reflections on their craft through interviews with some of those featured. In doing so, Jennifer Wong explores the usefulness and limitations of existing labels and categories in reading the works of poets from specific racial, socio-cultural and gender backgrounds, including Bei Dao, Li-Young Chi, Marilyn Chin, Hannah Lowe and Sarah Howe, Kat Fan, Fiona Sze-Lorrain and Mary Jean Chan. Incorporating scholarship from both the East and the West, Wong demonstrates how these poets' experimentation with poetic language and forms serve to challenge the changing notions of homeland, family, history and identity, offering new definitions and evaluations of contemporary diasporic voices, with implications on the value of multiculturalism and cultural diversity."-- Provided by publisher "An exploration of the burgeoning field of Anglophone Asian diaspora poetry, this book draws on the thematic concerns of Hong Kong, Asian-American and British Asian poets from the wider Chinese diasporic culture to offer a transnational understanding of the complex notions of home and race in a globalised world. Located within current discourse surrounding Asian poetry, postcolonial and migrant writing, and bridging the fields of literary and cultural criticism with creative writing, this book provides broader contexts for key Chinese diasporic poets' work by incorporating the writers' own reflections on their craft through interviews with some of those featured. In doing so, Jennifer Wong explores the usefulness and limitations of existing labels and categories in reading the works of poets from specific racial, socio-cultural and gender backgrounds, including Bei Dao, Li-Young Lee, Marilyn Chin, Hannah Lowe and Sarah Howe, Nina Mingya Powles and Mary Jean Chan. Incorporating scholarship from both the East and the West, Wong demonstrates how these poets' experimentation with poetic language and forms serve to challenge the changing notions of homeland, family, history and identity, offering new evaluations of contemporary diasporic voices, with implications on the value of multiculturalism and cultural diversity"-- Provided by publisher Preface by Shirley Lim Introduction: Understanding concepts of home, identity and diaspora Chapter 1 - Bei Dao: A Sinophone diasporic poet and the poetic language of exile Chapter 2 - Li-Young Lee: Exile, nostalgia and Oriental spirituality Chapter 3 - Marilyn Chin's feminist poetics of protest Chapter 4 - Hannah Lowe: Hybridity, multicultural heritage and class Chapter 5 - Sarah Howe: Pilgrimage, Chinoiserie and translated identities Chapter 6 - Race, sexuality and family in the poetry of Mary Jean Chan Chapter 7 - Anglophone Chinese diaspora poetry in the UK: A new generation Chapter 8 - Anglophone poetry in Hong Kong: Cosmopolitanism and a split notion of home Epilogue Appendix 1 - Author Interviews Appendix 2 - Biographies of Poets Discussed Bibliography Index. Cover Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: Understanding concepts of home, identity and diaspora 1 Bei Dao: A Sinophone diasporic poet and the poetic language of exile 2 Li-Young Lee: Exile, nostalgia and Oriental spirituality 3 Marilyn Chin’s feminist poetics of protest 4 Hannah Lowe: Hybridity, multicultural heritage and class 5 Sarah Howe: Pilgrimage, Chinoiserie and translated identities 6 Race, sexuality and family in the poetry of Mary Jean Chan 7 Anglophone-Chinese diaspora poetry in the UK: A new generation 8 Anglophone poetry in Hong Kong: Cosmopolitanism and a split notion of home Epilogue Appendix: Author interviews Bibliography Index