Asian American Literature and Art

When trying to determine the influence of any group of people, a good benchmark is the representation and production of Arts and Literature. What a society deems important is usually represented in the contents of the emerging artistic output. Looking at the influence of Asian Americans on American society warrants a closer look at several different types of media. Far from being a fringe group in America, Asian American creatives keep on breaking ground in the mainstream media. A good example of this is the popularity of Anime which has been on the rise for quite some time, with shows not only being dubbed into English, but the general style of animation also gaining popularity. Accordingly, TV shows like Avatar: the Last Airbender are highly reminiscent of Japanese animating styles. But it is not only Anime that captures the interest of American society. Asian American Artists and Writers keep on becoming more and more popular, bringing topics like racism, cultural differences and identity struggle with it.

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Art and Canonization

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Even though animation can certainly be regarded as an Art form that has deeply influenced the western imagination, in the following more traditional productions of art will mostly be considered. 

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Unlike its animated counterpart, Asian American art and its history still suffer from a lack of recognition by the canon. Efforts to incorporate it into an academic context are mostly done by individuals. Consequently, leading figures of the movement have to assume multiple roles at the same time. They are not merely artists, but teachers, curators, activists, archivists, and organizers as well. 

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The beginnings of efforts to canonize Asian American Art started in the 70s with the growing popularity of ethnic studies. Right from the start, establishing a canon happened against a backdrop of anti-immigration sentiment and racism. Constructing a shared cultural identity proved to be difficult, since both Asians immigrating to the US and American-born children of Asian parents fall under the moniker Asian American. Therefore, it is not merely an issue of being acknowledged by the canon, but who exactly even falls under the umbrella term “Asian American”.

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However, one example of an artist of Asian descent who broke into the American Art scene is Ching Ho Cheng. The artist was born in Havana to Chinese parents, but throughout his life mostly lived in New York, starting and continuing his work there. Ching was known for his work ethic and for working tirelessly regardless of any inconveniences. His preferred medium to work on was paper and the resulting paintings can be classified into four distinct periods: the Psychedelics, Gouache, Torn Works, and Alchemical Works. Every era differs highly in style, showing a great capability for reinvention.

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A closer look at a painting from his Psychedelics era titled “X Triptych” reveals how closely Ching was connected to his Chinese heritage. 

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The painting is part of his first art period and is highly influenced by spirituality, as is evidenced by the use of mandalas and the thematic usage of chakras. He was highly inspired by Tibetan prayer practices and Hinduism in general. Ultimately, Ching wanted to depict the essence of life through his paintings.

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In the 70s and 80s, Ching was one of the first Asian American painters to be generally well-regarded by the art scene, breaking ground for other Asian American artists to follow. Not only did he gain the respect of his peers, but his work ultimately made it into notable museums. Before his death in 1989 he had several solo and group exhibitions, mostly in New York, showing that he was and still is embraced as an artist of the city since most of his paintings remained there. 

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Ching Ho Cheng is just one example of artists representing the Asian American community, and his colorful psychedelic style of painting pushed the boundaries of traditional Asian art forms, showing that one of the key characteristics of Asian American art is the move away from tradition.

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In the end, the question arises whether broad categorizations like Asian American Art help create a group identity or ultimately create restrictions for artists, reducing them to their cultural heritage. Asian American Art is still a fringe aspect of Modern Art history, despite individual efforts to change the fact.

Further examples of Asian American Art, you can click here.

Literature and Identity Crisis

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In Europe, questions of Restitution, meaning the returning of cultural artifacts to the countries they were taken from, are a heated debate. More specifically, it pertains to art and goods that were stolen during Colonial times from African countries and then distributed throughout Europe. However, despite the common impression that this debate is more or less exclusive to Africa, Asia also suffered art theft by British and French troops during the ransacking of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace in 1860. This was not the only time that cultural goods were stolen only to be sold or displayed in the Western world, and in the last years conscious efforts were made by the Chinese government and private investors to rebuy and reclaim the lost artifacts.

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The author of Portrait of a Thief by Asian American author Grace D. Li also poses the central question of how to handle stolen art. The book follows different Asian American protagonists and how they experience the pressure of being both American and Asian. Restitution is used as a narrative device to show the identity struggle they experience by feeling like they don’t fully belong to either American or Asian (and in this case mostly Chinese) society. By trying to steal back the Bronze Statues from Western Museums, the group of college-aged friends individually has to tackle the balance between the culture their parents grew up in and the American one.

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Books by Asian American authors slowly but surely made their way onto most bestseller lists and with hit sellers like Crazy Rich Asians by author Kevin Kwan Asian American literature went from being a fringe genre to entering into the mainstream.

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In order to better understand how Asian American Literature got to the popularity it is at today, it is crucial to first look at its roots of it. The dawn of Asian American literature certainly begins in the 20th century, when more and more Asian Americans started to write in English and not in their mother tongue. This created a wave of books with the main focus on the cultural tensions between white and Asian immigrants and the hardships immigrant families had to face. The deep connection to internal struggles was then shifted when the Second World War brought about the internment of 120.000 Japanese Americans. The trauma caused by horrendous living conditions in the concentration camps and the loss of property were dealt with extensively in the literature emerging in the following years. 

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Up until that point, the general identity and moniker of “Asian American” did not exist. The name emerged in 1968 when two student activists, Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka, wanted to unite all Asian culture under one umbrella term and accordingly “Asian American” was born. The accompanying literature was quickly cemented as a genre and activists started to work for the greater visibility of Asian American struggles.

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Nowadays, the focus of Asian American literature is on the construction of identity and the structural racism prevalent in American society. On top of that, the Covid pandemic brought about a huge wave of anti-Asian sentiment and shifted literature once again.

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