Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- 5 Indian Diasporic Autobiography: New Nations and New Selves
- 6 Koreans in Exile: Younghill Kang and Richard E. Kim
- 7 Filipino and Filipina Voices
- 8 Chinatown Life as Contested Terrain: H. T. Tsiang, Jade Snow Wong, and C. Y. Lee
- 9 Coded Critiques: Japanese American Incarceration Literature
- 10 Asian American Short Fiction and the Contingencies of Form, 1930s–1960s
- 11 The Chicago School and the Sociological Imagination
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - Coded Critiques: Japanese American Incarceration Literature
from Part II - The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge History ofAsian American Literature
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Forms of Expression to the Start of the Twentieth Century
- Part II The Exclusion Era, World War II, and the Immediate Postwar Era
- 5 Indian Diasporic Autobiography: New Nations and New Selves
- 6 Koreans in Exile: Younghill Kang and Richard E. Kim
- 7 Filipino and Filipina Voices
- 8 Chinatown Life as Contested Terrain: H. T. Tsiang, Jade Snow Wong, and C. Y. Lee
- 9 Coded Critiques: Japanese American Incarceration Literature
- 10 Asian American Short Fiction and the Contingencies of Form, 1930s–1960s
- 11 The Chicago School and the Sociological Imagination
- Part III The Asian American Movement
- Part IV Canons
- Part V Post-1965 and the Twenty-First Century
- Part VI Twenty-First Century: 9/11, Empire, and Other Challenges to Literature
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
There is a rich history of incarceration literature produced by Niseis (second-generation, American-born), some of which appeared very shortly after the end of the war. This chapter focuses on selected representative texts written by Niseis, and published up through the 1970s. This body of work represents varied and deeply felt responses that are often coded critiques of the Japanese American incarceration. Three of the most foundational texts about the incarceration appeared within eight years of its official end: Miné Okubo's Citizen 13660, Hisaye Yamamoto's The Legend of Miss Sasagawara, and Monica Sone's Nisei Daughter. Notable in all three texts is an overt description or narrative of camp life and a covert critique of the racism and failure of an espoused U.S. democracy. As a dissenting text, John Okada's No-No Boy was direct in its depiction of the cost wrought by the war, incarceration, and reductive, racist notions of citizenship.
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Asian American Literature , pp. 171 - 186Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015