Product Description

Literary Gestures: The Aesthetic in Asian American Writing contests the dominance of materialist and cultural critiques in Asian American literary discourse by re-centering critical attention around issues of aesthetics and literary form. Collapsing the perceived divisions between the "ethnic" and the "aesthetic" in Asian American literary criticism, the eleven original essays in this volume provide theoretically sophisticated and formally sensitive readings of works in prose, poetry, and drama. These contributions foreground discussions of genre, canonicity, narrative, and literary value to show how aesthetic and formal concerns play an important part in the production and consumption of these works. By calling for a more balanced mode of criticism, the eleven original essays in this volume invite students and scholars to reinvest in the literary not as a negation of the sociopolitical but as a complementary strategy in reading and understanding Asian American literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1967594 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-14
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .58" h x 6.12" w x 9.00" l, .72 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Review
"A brilliant introduction frames the essays. This groundbreaking book of essays is a must for any scholar of Asian American literary studies, or indeed, ethnic literature in general. Essential." Choice "These scholars effectively critique contemporary multicultural criticism's inability or unwillingness to encompass the aesthetic." MELUS Spring 2007