This fieldwork based course examines the general theories and terms in Asian and Asian American studies through folkloristic perspectives, and looks into the folklore and identity issues of the Asian communities in multiethnic interactions in Salem area. By collecting data on such genres as ethnic jokes, legends, narratives, festivals, and rituals, the participants gain experience in working with the local communities, and deepen their understanding of the meaning of being Asian Americans from both insider and outsider perspectives. The goal of this course is to learn perspectives to ethnic life through fieldwork and from various theoretical views. The results will be archived and exhibited on campus.
The Course Format:
In this fieldwork based class, the students are introduced to some theories in the related fields, and then assigned to conduct fieldwork in the local community. Class activities include lectures, fieldwork, reports, discussions, and presentations. Guest speakers will be invited. Audio-visual materials will be used. The result of the class work will be archived and exhibited for teaching purpose.
The Course Requirements:
Fully and actively participate in all class activities (10%). Independent and creative work is expected. Individual and collective projects are the major part of this class (40%). Reading, discussion, and writing are conducted throughout the course (15%). Reports on progress of fieldwork or other assignments are expected on time (10%). Final project will be in writing and presented to the class (25%). No late work will be accepted.
Required Texts:
1. George H. Schoemaker. The Emergence of Folklore in Everyday
Life. Bloomington:
Trickster Pres, 1990.
2. Robert Georges and Michael Jones. Folkloristics: An Introduction. Bloomington:
Indiana
University Press, 1995.
3. Course Pack or Handouts (via print or .pdf file)
Course-Pack Table of Contents:
Part One: Theory and Method: Key Terms and Concepts
1. Culture Area; 2. Diaspora; 3. Diffusion; 4. Ethnicity; 5. Ethnography
6. Putting Folklore to Use (M. O. Jones)
7. A Celebration of American Family Folklore (S. Zeitlin)
Part Two: History: Fact and Fantasy
8. Who are the Chinese Americans?
9. Who are the Japanese Americans?
10. Significant Documents (Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882; Immigration and Nationality
Act Amendments, 1965; Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1991-92 )
11. The Legal System in the United States (Laws against Asian/Pacific Americans,
then and now)
12. Dictionary of Asian American History: Chinese in the United States; Japanese
in the United States; Koreans in the United States; Asian Americans and American
Popular Culture)
13. The Columbia Guide to Asian American History: Periodization
Part Three: Studies
14. Asian American Psychology: Why and how researchers should study ethnic
identity, acculturation, and cultural orientation
15. A Different Mirror: 1, A Different Mirror; 14, Through A Glass Darkly
16. The Unwelcome Immigrant: 9, Chinese Exclusion in Historical and National
Perspective
17. Contemporary Asian America: Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian Americans;
Power, Patriarchy, and Gender Conflict in the Vietnamese Immigrant Community;
Asian Americans as the Model Minority; What Must I be? Rethinking Race; Heterogeneity,
Hybridity, Multiplicity.
Part Four: For Example, Chinese American or American Chinese
18. The Challenge of The American Dream: Different Kinds of Chinese; Americanization
and the American Dream.
19. Chinese American Voices: Kam Wah Chung Letters; The Best Tofu in the World
Comes from ¡ Indiana?
20. The Chinese of America: How it Happened
21. The Chinese American Transnationalism: Writing a Place in American Life
22. The Chinese Americans: The Arts and Chinese Americans; Chinese American
Families and Identities.
23. Becoming Chinese American: Guangdong Origins
24. Some Images: Comic Songs and Chorus: "The Wedding of the Chinese
and the Coon"; Political Cartoons reflecting U.S. Images of the Filipinos;
Song: "Chinatown, My Chinatown"; Plain Languages from Truthful James;
A Cartoon on a Book Jacket on Chinese in New Zealand.
Part Five: Folklore Genres and Identity Demonstration (Distributed
Separately)
25. Ethnic Humor (Jokes, Proverbs, etc. - oral literature)
26. Media and Ethnic Identity (Filmic Folklore, TV, Film, Games, Video-Games,
etc.)
27. Oral Narratives (Urban Legends; Oral History)
28. Belief and Behavior (Ritual Life; Celebrations; Festivals; Public Display)
29. Material Life (Architecture; Ornaments, etc.)
Weekly Schedule and Topics (Detailed assignments will be given in class):
Suggested Readings for Further Studies:
Barth, Fredrik. ed. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social
Organization of Cultural Difference. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1969.
Chan, Sucheng. Chinese American Transnationalism. Temple U. Press, 2006.
Chen, Jack. The Chinese of America. Harper & Row, 1980.
Chung, Sue Fawn and Priscilla Wegars. eds. Chinese American Death Rituals:
Respecting the Ancestors. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005.
Hall, Gorden and Sumie Okazaki. Asian American Psychology. American Psychological
Association, 2002.
Hom, Marlon K. Songs of Gold Mountain: Cantonese Rhymes from San Francisco
Chinatown. University of California Press, 1987.
K-G, B. "Studying Immigrant and Ethnic Folklore." In Handbook of
American Folklore. ed. R. Dorson. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1983.
Kim, Hyung-Chan. Dictionary of Asian American History. Greenwood. 1986.
Lai, Him Mark. Becoming Chinese American. AltaMira, 2004.
Miller, Stuart Creighton. The Unwelcome Immigrant: The American Image of the
Chinese, 1785-1882. University of California Press, 1969.
Min, Pyong Gap. Ed. The Second Generation: Ethnic Identity among Asian Americans.
AltaMira, 2002.
Odo, Franklin. Ed. The Columbian Documentary History of the Asian American
Experience. Columbia University Press, 2002.
Okihiro, Gary Y. The Columbia Guide to Asian American History. Columbia University
Press, 2001.
Oring, Elliott. Folk Groups and Folk Genres: An Introduction. Logan, Utah:
Utah State University Press, 1986.
Tolken, B. Folklore and Cultural Worldview." In The Dynamics of Folklore.
Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996.Pp.225-261.
Ben-Amos, D. "Analytical Categories and Ethnic Genres." In Folklore
Genres. ed. D. Ben-Amos. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976. Pp.215-42.
Hoe, B. S. Structural Changes of Two Chinese Communities in Alberta, Canada.
Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1976.
Chen, Clarence L. and Dorothy C. Y. Yang. "The Self Image Of Chinese-American
Adolescents: A Cross-Cultural Comparison." International Journal of Social
Psychiatry 32:4:19, 1986.
Sung, Betty Lee. "Chinese American Intermarriage." Journal of Comparative
Family Studies 21:3 (Autumn) 337, 1990.
Hwang. "Face and Favor: The Chinese Power Game." American Journal
of Sociology 92(4):944-74, 1987.
Yu, Lucy C. "Acculturation and Stress Within Chinese American Families"
Journal of Comparative Family Studies 15:1 (1984:Spring) 77.
Hong, Lawrence K. "Recent Immigrants in the Chinese-American Community:
Issues of Adaptations And Impacts." International Migration Review 10:4,
509, 1976.
Weiss, Melford S. "The Research Experience in a Chinese-American Community
Research among Racial and Cultural Minorities: Problems, Prospects, and Pitfalls."
Journal of Social Issues 33:4:120, 1977.
Beesley, David. "From Chinese to Chinese American: Chinese Women &
Families in a Sierra Nevada County." California History 67:3 (Sept.)
168, 1988.
Louie, Emma Woo. "Name Styles and Structure of Chinese American Personal
Names." Names: A Journal of Onomastics. 39(3):225-37, 1991.
Feng, Peter. "Being Chinese American, Becoming Asian American: Chan Is
Missing." Cinema Journal 35(4):88-118, 1996.
Xing, Jun. et. al. eds. Seeing Color. University Press of America. 2007 (?)
Yung, Judy, et al. eds. Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the
Present. University of California Press, 2006.
Zeitlin, Steven J. et al. A Celebration of American Family Folklore: Tales
and Traditions from the Smithsonian Collection. Smithsonian Institution, 1982.
Zhou, Min and James V. Gatewood. Eds. Contemporary Asian American: A Multidisciplinary
Reader. New York University Press, 2000.
Zhu, Liping. A Chinaman's Chance: The Chinese on the Rocky Mountain Mining
Frontier. University Press of Colorado, 1997.
Barlow, Jeffrey and Christine Richardson. China Doctor Of John
Day.
Wong, Marie Rose. Sweet Cakes, Long Journey: The Chinatowns of Portland.
Xing, Jun et al. eds. Seeing Color: Indigenous peoples and Racialized Ethnic
Minorities in Oregon.
Dreams of the West: A History of the Chinese in Oregon 1850-1950. Ooligan
Press, 2007.
For questions, please mail the instructor, Dr. Juwen Zhang, Juwen@willamette.edu