Interracial encounters : reciprocal representations in African American and Asian American literatures, 1896-1937 / Julia H. Lee.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-207) and index.

The 'negro problem' and the 'yellow peril': early twentieth-century America's views on Blacks and Asians -- Estrangement on a train: race and narratives of American identity in the marrow of tradition and America through the spectacles of an oriental diplomat -- The eaton sisters go to Jamaica -- Quicksand and the racial aesthetics of chinoiserie -- Nation, narration, and the Afro-Asian encounter in W.E.B. Du Bois' Dark princess -- And Younghill Kang's East goes west.

Print version record.

Why do black characters appear so frequently in Asian American literary works and Asian characters appear in African American literary works in the early twentieth century? Interracial Encounters attempts to answer this rather straightforward literary question, arguing that scenes depicting Black-Asian interactions, relationships, and conflicts capture the constitution of African American and Asian American identities as each group struggled to negotiate the racially exclusionary nature of American identity. In this nuanced study, Julia H. Lee argues that the diversity and ambiguity that characterize these textual moments radically undermine the popular notion that the history of Afro-Asian relations can be reduced to a monolithic, media-friendly narrative, whether of cooperation or antagonism.

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