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Asian Immigration
Contextualization- The key destination between the years of 1800 and 1900's was the land of the free, . Being as it may,
became the land of Asian immigration. During the year of 1849 there was a big Gold Rush boom in California , which caused
many Asians to immigrate towards because there was a great economic opportunity. After entering many Asians were able to
become intertwined with the American ways. They were allowed to use their skills to build the Transcontinental Railroad,
to become merchants, and even cooks. Out of the thousands of Asian immigrants that entered to learn and take advantage of
the American culture. Several Asians American writers were born. For example, Amy Tan, Laurence Yep, Allen Say and Maxine
Hong Kingston are among the few that have succeeded.
During the Asian Immigration many Asian Americans had to get use to the big commotion of . For instance, many female Asian
Americans had to adjust to the pros and cons of being classified as an Asian American woman. This resulted in the development
of a closer bond between Chinese mothers and their daughters. On the other hand their bonds also began to push and pull against
one another due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This act was implemented to stop Asians from entering because many
Americans became upset and discriminate towards the number of Asians immigrating to the . As a result, a new type of writing
was created. Many Asian American writers such as Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston were formed; they wrote about the conflicts
and relationships between families, mother and daughter bonding, while experiencing immigration and the Exclusion Act. This
also was the start of American realism from an Asian immigrate perspective.
Salient Points- Many Asian American writers such as Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston captured the relationship between
Asian mothers and the daughters during the immigration period. They used the literary techniques of oral story telling, which
derived from their heritage in order to capture the relationship between mother and daughter. They used these tactics to
place them in American literature, but by an Asian American. Now with a new type of Asian literature, was now introduced
to the life of an Asian American. This type of literature opened the doors to the Asian life and culture. For example, Amy
Tan novel The Joy Luck Club, uses the literary technique of realism to show how the lives of four Chinese families are affected
by immigrating. The Chinese families within Tans story form a club in San Francisco , in which they discuss their individual
stories from the past and to the present. Amy Tans novel as well as many other Asian American writers provide a lead way
into many American topics from racism, immigration, hatred, laws, etc. Asian American literature was a great achievement for
their culture because Asian writers found a way to capture the attention of non-Asians, while still being able to express
the views and beliefs of the Asian society.
Not only was the idea of Asian literature a great achievement, but so was the building of the Transcontinental railroad.
More than 16,000 Asian immigrants built this railroad. Asian immigrants were the ones who performed the nastiest, hardest,
and crummy jobs. Even though this was the case, it provided many jobs for the newcomers of . This great achievement would
go down in Asian history. This railroad was a very important structure in ; it connected territory from Nebraska all the
way to Sacramento . This would lead to greater economic growth and transport in .
Influence on the short story- One might say that the start of Asian literature was to due to Asian Immigration in the
mid 1800s. Asian literature started with writers like Amy Tan, Laurence Yep, Maxine Hong Kingston, Allen Say, Willa Cather,
and Anne Tyler. These Asian American writers wrote about the time in which they had to deal with the Immigration experience
as well as the good and the evil that came along with this new change. With this type of change taking place it would open
the doors for many Asian American writers. They could now talk about the immigration, families, culture, Exclusion Act, life
and death. With this wide range of categories they were able to place there thoughts and experience in to a short story,
which provide American Literature with a new vision of life.
The topic influences on the short story allow the eyes and minds of American to be opened to a new race, and inside of
that race a new culture. This was possible because many writers wrote about what actually happened. These short stories
were also used as a way for other Asian immigrants to understand what was happening. It also gave them a source of togetherness
to let them know that they are not alone. As a result of the Asian American short stories it inspired many other writers
to establish themselves.
Connections to our class- In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Eaton( Sui Sin Far) an Asian writer that is featured
in the American Literature novel, combines her experience of immigrating though a technique that we discussed in class. The
technique would be realism. Sui Sin Far depicts her experience through a straightforward approach in which her event truly
happened. Realism is shown in this novel when a mother and father were separated from their new born son because he does
not have papers that state his sons identity of being an Asian American. This story gives us a look at how the process of
immigration may have taken place. Another literary term discussed in class which is derived from realism, would be psychological
realism. This term introduces the reader to the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters. Throughout this novel Sui
Sin Far uses this technique to express the mothers sickness and lost of hope of her lost son. These are just a few literary
terms that we discussed in class that were incorporated in the novel. This novel truly captured the lifestyle of an Asian
Immigrant.
Citations
http:// www.duluth.lib.mn.us/Programs/Joy Luck Club/ About.htmlhttp:// www.mostlyfiction.com/world/ton.htmhttp:// teacher.scholastic.com/activities/asian-american/notable.htmhttp://
voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/ingston_maxine_hong.html
http:// www.academon.com/lib/paper/64.892.html
http:// www.blackwaterlib.org/book/pathfinders/immigrant.htm
http://www.aawaaart.com/bookstore/writers.html
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