Orientalism in Contemporary Asian American Literature - Mounting Madame Butterfly on the Asian American Needle
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Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Fachbereich Neuere Philologien Institut für England- und Amerikastudien Abschlussarbeit zur Erlangung der Magistra Artium Orientalism in Contemporary Asian American Literature - Mounting Madame Butterfly on the Asian American Needle - Betreut durch: Erstgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Susanne Opfermann Zweitgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Dorothea Wippermann Vorgelegt von: aus: Kalkutta, Indien Einreichdatum: 10. Februar 2009 ii Preface.................................................................................................................................................... iv 1. Intention ............................................................................................................................................. 1 PART I – Historical and Theoretical Background 2. Asian America.................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Asian American ........................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Terminology......................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.2 Identity.................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2 Asian American Literature....................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Asian American Studies ........................................................................................................... 18 3. Orientalism ....................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Edward Said: Orientalism ........................................................................................................... 21 3.1.1 Re-appropriation of Orientalism ....................................................................................... 24 3.1.2 Orientalism and Asian American Studies......................................................................... 28 3.2 Orientalism in America ............................................................................................................ 31 3.2.1 Genealogy........................................................................................................................... 31 3.2.1 Modus Operandi................................................................................................................ 36 3.2.3 Shift of Stereotypes........................................................................................................... 37 PART II – Literary Representations 4. Madame Butterfly ............................................................................................................................ 40 4.1 Madame Butterfly in Literature............................................................................................... 41 4.1.1 Fabricating the Butterfly myth ........................................................................................ 42 4.2 M. Butterfly ................................................................................................................................... 45 4.2.1 Synopsis and Analysis....................................................................................................... 47 4.2.1.1 Act I............................................................................................................................. 48 4.2.1.2 Act II ........................................................................................................................... 56 4.2.1.3 Act III.......................................................................................................................... 62 4.2.2 Orientalism in M. Butterfly ................................................................................................ 68 4.2.2.1 (Mis)construction and (Mis)reading of Male and Female.................................... 69 4.2.2.2 (Mis)construction and (Mis)reading of East and West ........................................ 74 iii 4.2.3 M. Butterfly in the Asian American context.................................................................... 78 4.2.3.1 Voicing Criticism in Orientalist Codes...................................................................79 5. Orientalism in 21 st Century Asian America ................................................................................. 82 5.1 Beau Sia ...................................................................................................................................... 83 5.1.1 Issues................................................................................................................................... 84 5.2 Margaret Cho............................................................................................................................. 86 5.2.1 Issues................................................................................................................................... 87 6. Conclusion........................................................................................................................................ 89 APPENDIX Works Cited.............................................................................................................................................I Zusammenfassung............................................................................................................................. VII Erklärung................................................................................................................................................ X Lebenslauf.............................................................................................................................................XI iv Preface When I began my research on this thesis, I profited a lot from discussion and brainstorming sessions with others. Many fellow students, themselves in the process of writing their thesis, helped me in this fruitful endeavor of completing mine. The pivotal moment, which I think every writer should have, came when I was explaining my research topic to someone I hadn’t seen since my first year in college. Talking about my topic repeatedly, helped me structure my thoughts, draw new conclusions, cross out old thoughts, and elaborate on my previous drafts. So when I told this person my title and started to explain he interrupted and said, “Aha, das passt ja zu dir.” I didn’t say anything for a few, very long, seconds and thought of a passage I had read in Thinking Orientals by Henry Yu. In his introductory passage Yu explains how Asian American scholars were received and perceived in post-war American academia. In an afterthought, he adds, “For too long, we have thought that white men in academia sought Truth (with a capital T) and that women and minority scholars pursuing gender, racial, and ethnic studies studied only themselves” (12). I wasn’t mad at my friend for saying this to me, although I hadn’t anticipated anything like this to happen to me. I knew I was not just “studying myself,” yet I felt marginalized and disturbed. My friend’s comment also had a positive effect to it: it assured me that Orientalism still prevails, both in literature, as this study aims to show, and in the mindset of those that have been exposed to Orientalist literature and thought. Secondly, I could relate to D.H. Hwang’s concern and main issue in M. Butterfly – how is it that Americans of greater Asian background are still perceived and marginalized as Orientals? What demarcated them as (cultural) Other and why are these anachronistic images of Orientals present today? I share my motivation to write this thesis with D.H. Hwang’s motivation to write a play like M. Butterfly 1 – agreed, it was not my initial motivation, nor the decisive one (I just want to graduate) but it greatly contributed to my analysis and focus of research. The long- lasting impact of Orientalism (and hopefully soon of Said’s Orientalism ) is very much observable and substantive today. Orientalism is not just a theorem that applies to literature and the arts, academia and history; it is an axiom deeply engraved in the mindset of every 1 M. Butterfly is partly motivated by French diplomat Bernard Bouriscot’s relationship to Chinese male opera singer Shi Peipu, whom he believed to be a woman. v person – be it a person from the “West” or the “East” – as, in Edward Said’s word, “a kind of second-order knowledge […] with a life of its own” ( Orientalism 52). Over coffee, I have had numerous discussions with teachers, friends and fellow students on matters related and unrelated to this thesis. I would like to thank them for their patience and endurance to be my sounding boards when I needed one; they bear no responsibility for the views expressed here or errors made. I also thank Anne and Dorothee for sharing the daunting process of thesis writing with me. This thesis is dedicated to my late aunt Shashi Taparia. 1 1. Intention Representations of the unknown and the foreign can be found in every culture. Paralleling the method of constructing identity in relation to the Other, all cultures create myths about the ‘foreign’ in order to discern what the ‘native’ is, and thus often essentialize them as either good or bad, ultimately to vindicate one’s own actions and values. The nature of myths