Hi guys! Sorry for the late post. We weren't sure until last night/this morning if there were going to be other readings.


Loni Ding, an AsAm director, creates what she calls “docu-memoirs” to “search out shards of history found in archaeological artifacts, household objects, personal mementos, folklore, and rituals, the film links history to contemporary issues.” Docu-memoirs are not objective, nor are they completely subjective. They are compilations of personal accounts which give historical context to the actions of the characters.

• The term “docu-memoir” encompasses the concept of non-faceless history that Lee describes in Acts of Exclusion. Are docu-memoirs useful recordings of history?
• Since they draw upon personal experiences being retold, do they impose the viewpoints of some (East Asians, for example) on all members affected by the event? Or do the personal experiences help to make the history richer and better understood?
• Should we strive to write history objectively, or (as suggested by Lee on page 150) should we try to record the past in such a way that it “exceeds history as a series of numbers and dates”?
  

Lee compares the writing of Asian American history with the theatrical expression of Asian American conflicts in history. She claims that it is "impossible to make rigid distinctions between written history as 'fact' and theater as 'fiction'" (137).

• What do you think is more effective for continuing our discourse: writing textual histories or dramatic performances? Why?
• In these instances, what defines "fact" and "fiction"? Could history potentially be considered the "fiction" and theater the "fact"?
  

See pp. 146-7 to reference Hwang's The Dance and the Railroad for these questions.

• When a theatrical representation of an historical event is deliberately changed to oppose the recorded information about said event, can the dramatization still be considered historical?
• How does the rewriting of history via theatre differ from the rewriting of historical textbooks?

Syllabus Topic Brainstorming

Since we weren't able to do this on Monday night, let's start brainstorming for the topic of next semester's course... (Please comment with thoughts, ideas, and possibilities...)

Artists and Activists

Sandra Tsing Loh - German and Chinese/ KPCC/ Performance artist/ Focuses on LAUSD and Education

Freedom Sounds - Korean American/ Traditional Drumming

Tony Osumi - Muralists in Little Tokyo/ Works with the community/ SOCA is bringing him in??

Skim -musical stuff/ spoken work musician/ works with freedom sounds

Taiko Teams - 5c Teams/ opening act maybe?/ or other LA teams

Bambu - spoken word artist/ hip hop / youth empowerment/ social and political issues/ local artists

D'lo - LA/ Sri Lankan - American/ SOCA may bring her/ war/ race/ class/ sexuality/ political theatre

Canyan Sam - performance artist/ so cal activism/ San Francisco

Sabrina Tan - Filipino/ spoken word artist/ Bamboo Girl editor/ Los Angeles

Bah.

I hate colds. Sorry, all.
But, my ideas for artists/activists are:
Kip Fulbeck
Gaye Chan
Dawn E. Nakanishi
Margaret Cho

I couldn't figure out if all of these people were actually in California, but I like them. (And I know Cho is just wishful thinking.)

Presentation dates

Presentation Dates:

2/9 week 3 – Kim, Jessica
2/16 week 4 – Emily W., Emily R.
2/23 week 5 – Jessica, Cheukwa
3/2 week 6 – Shara, Lynette
3/9 week 7 – Junko, Lynette
Week 8 – Spring Break
3/23 week 9 – Cheukwa, Emily
3/30 week 10 – Shara, Allison
4/6 week 11 – Natty, Emily
Week 12 – syllabus session
4/20 week 13 – Allison, Junko
4/27 week 14 – Natty
Week 15 – syllabus session

extra assignment!!

Cheukwa and I would like you guys to bring in an ad to class; this should be an ad with a PERSON on it please! Any type of ad is okay, as long as there is a person on it. We are going to talk about how these ads give off some connotation and denotations of the people portrayed. More details in class!!

WEEK 5 BLOG

Hey Everyone! Sorry this is a bit late, but here are some blog questions for monday. As usual, you don't need to answer all the questions. And don't forget to bring in speaker/artist ideas for our event!

In general, why do you think we were assigned to read the Saussure reading? How related is idea of representation to art? The reading also talked a lot about linguistics, and how language is the “code” required to get concepts or ideas across. Again, how is language related to art? Is language a necessary component to a piece of art of any type (music, painting, dance, speech, etc etc.)?

Most of us have probably not seen many of the films that Fung writes about. However, can you any recent mainstream films in particular that portray Asian Americans as being “doubly displaced” both in American and in their country of ethnic origin?

Let’s think about the Hello Kitty sestina. Is this like anything you have read before? Is the style very unique? What do you think is the underlying message, if there is one at all, in this poem? Is there significance to the images that Duhamel conjures up in your mind as you read it?

Week 4 Post!!!

Hey guys, I hope you all are having a good weekend! Here are some questions to ponder and write about.

In Nina Felshin's introduction to her book "But is it Art" she spends a while analyzing what Activist Art actually is. Do you agree or disagree with her definition? What is some type of activist art, that is part of the hybrid culture mentioned, that you have experienced? In her introduction she also mentions different ways that activists try to get their work noticed. What do you think is the most productive way to get activist art to completely fulfill its potential? Towards the end of her introdution she mentions that it is ironic that most of the artist in her book have "ongoing relationships with the art world." How much do you think that this impacts their ability to effectively accomplish their activist goals? One more thought, do you think that it is possible for an activist group to remain strong and effective over a long period of time, perhaps 75 years or more? What would have to happen in the group to make this possible?

In the second reading there are many different arguments about whether there is an Asian American aesthetics. Every writer seems to have a slightly different idea about what eactly aesthetics means. What does it mean to you? How would you define it? In Paul Pfeiffer's essay he claims that the idea of Asian American aesthetics is completely legitimate because no one questions Western aesthetics, which he claims is equally broad. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?

Any questions you don't get a chance to blog about we can always talk about in class so don't feel like you have to get to all of the! See you guys monday :)

Asian American Artists Symposium

www.aasc.ucla.edu/archives/event03142009.htm

Saturday, March 14, 2009

9am - 1pm

Armand Hammer Museum

This event is free and open to the public.

RSVP 310.825.2974 or aascrsvp@aasc.ucla.edu

by March 13, 2009

For more info click on the link above.

Responses to discussion questions

Hi, sorry for the late posting - I though we were going to discussion the questions in class.
I think the social status of AA is more minimized than is oppressed. Because a lot of Whites view AA as model minorities, some of them actually admire Asian cultures. But because of their lack of understandings of the diverse and complicated history and values of Asian cultures, they often generalize or stereotype AA identities.
One obvious area is the racial depictions of Asian actresses in TV and film. The racial images and assumptions reinforce the hypersexual and hyperfeminine imagery of Asian women (e.g. Charlie's Angles, Joy Luck Club, and Lipstick Jungle.) Being constructed as "the Orient," we lost our voice in America.
Mass media is also responsible to keep status quo intact. When I was doing some research on the 1968 SFSC Strike, most of the news articles that I found focus on the Black students and treated the effect of AA as secondary.
I believe art is a healthy way to decolonize White society's imagery of AA. In order to continue to resist stereotypes and struggle for a voice, filmmakers ought to be responsible for their interpretations of cultural representations of ethnic identities. Moreover, audience need to investigate what is playing on the screen and read beyond the surface intent. As college students, we ought to read critically and voice our opinion in anyway we can. These are some forms of resistance we can use to go against the flow of hegemonic power.

Reader Situation

Hey class,

I finally got all the articles/essays together and then discovered that my regular "reader guy" went out of business. This means that I will have to make the readers at King's copies and I anticipate that they will cost anywhere from $20-40 (it is a pretty thick reader), but I am almost positive they will come under $40.

I was wondering if you all mind paying this much for the reader or if you would like to continue having everything online in PDF format. now that I have the articles I can put more of them up on Sakai at a time, rather than posting readings week to week.

Please let me know what you think.

thanks,
nancy

Thank you Kim for the readings

Kim,

Thank you for emailing me the readings. 

Cheukwa

A Song for Ourselves

A Song for Ourselves is listed as an activity on the Syllabus, and from what I know it sounds wonderful. It's the premier of Tadashi Nakamura's documentary about Chris Iijima and his impact on the Asian American movement, as well as the use of music for social justice.

It's on February 28th, which is kind of soon, so maybe we can start talking about whether it'll be a class fieldtrip?


http://www.jaccc.org/09asongforourselves.htm

Director's Statement:

The Asian American Movement not only worked for social justice, it created the community into which I was born and raised. When I asked what the early movement was like, my mom simply played an old record for me. This was my first introduction to Chris Iijima. When I got to know Chris myself, rather than seeing him as an OG from the past, I looked up to him as a role model for the present. When Chris got sick, the community that was created over thirty years ago came together from all parts of the country to care for him and his family in a way that made me realize the lasting power of the Movement.
A Song For Ourselves is my attempt to capture the essence of this community I am grateful and proud to be a part of.

A Couple More Questions Before Class

The Oppression + Art/Activism/Asian Americans posting has most of the questions, but here are a couple about the Houn and Escobar readings:


Have Houn and Escobar's arguments changed (informed? confirmed? challenged?) how you view/classify art as

• "Revolutionary"?
• "Political"?
• "Asian American"?

How do you see art in relation to propoganda? Is all art propoganda? Is art's impact compromised if it functions as propoganda?

Reading assignments

Hi everyone,

I have no access to SAKAI for this class at the moment. Could someone please forward me the readings (Houn, Escobar, & Freire) to cheukwa.jones@cgu.edu? I really appreciate your help. Thanks, Cheukwa

Kip Fulbeck

So I mentioned in class on Monday Kip Fulbeck's film "Some Questions for 28 Kisses," and Nancy wanted me to give a bit more information.

The video itself consists of three or four different audio tracks, all laid over one another, so it's worth more than one viewing (in my opinion).

Here's the standard description of it:
Fulbeck force-feeds the viewer scores of all-too-familiar Asian female/Caucasian male pairings in Hollywood films, and combines them with contemporary excerpts from best-selling novels, magazines, and dating services. Some Questions For 28 Kisses delves into the causes and purposes of these created images and their relation to interracial dating, ethnic fetishes, race and gender wars, and Hapa identity.

And here's all-about-Kip, quoted directly from his site.
Kip Fulbeck is an American artist, slam poet and filmmaker. He is the author of Permanence: Tattoo Portraits; Part Asian, 100% Hapa; and Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography, as well as the director of a dozen short films including Banana Split and Lilo & Me.

Kip has been featured on CNN, MTV, and PBS, and has performed and exhibited in over 20 countries. He speaks nationwide on identity, multiraciality and pop culture — mixing together spoken word, stand-up comedy, political activism and personal stories to standing ovations.

A challenging and inspirational teacher, Kip is a professor of Art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has been named an Outstanding Faculty Member four times. He is also an avid surfer, guitar player, motorcycle rider, ocean lifeguard, and pug enthusiast. A complete overachiever despite being only half Chinese, Kip is also a nationally-ranked Masters swimmer.

He may or may not be a worthwhile person to study for a bit, but I think he brings up some interesting points in the film.

Manzanar Pilgrimage

I was doing some surfing and found some websites for the Manzanar Pilgrimage.

Here is the committee that puts on the pilgrimage every year, take a look to see what went on last year, and what the schedule is for this year:

http://www.manzanarcommittee.org/

http://blog.manzanarcommittee.org/2008/07/16/manzanar/

Their facebook group site has pictures from last year:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125594300079

Oppression + Art/Activism/Asian Americans

Hey everyone! I have a couple of discussion questions for you guys to write/think about. You don't need to necessarily answer all of them. Whatever we don't end up blogging about, we can always leave to discuss in class as well :]

Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed discusses the roles and characteristics of both the oppressed and the oppressors and mentions the two distinct stages of the pedagogy of the oppressed (Freire pg 54). Can you think of an experience of oppression you have encounted, one that you are comfortable with sharing, and how it either does/does not relate to Freire's two stages? Did you deal with the oppression, or did you just let it be? Let's say that you could be either the oppressed or the oppressor.

Kondo (Kondo pg 643) writes about a "white woman in the audience who proclaimed her shock that Asian Americans were raising issues of racism. She clearly viewed Asian Americans as model minorities, assuming that racism for [us] is no longer an issue." Now tying in oppression with Asian Americans, I think it'd be interesting to know everyone's background of not just Asian American history, but Asian American oppression. On a very general level, prior to taking this class, did you know that many Asian Americans today feel that they are oppressed in the US? If so, what are some ways that Asian Americans oppressed (both past and present)? If not, would you have believed it if someone told you? Why/why not?

Finally, Kondo describes many various instances of Asian American Art/Activism being tied together, from the fight for an Asian American Resource Center in the Claremont Colleges to the protests agains the mainstream book/film Rising Sun. How do you think Asian Americans are described in mainstream movies/books/music etc. etc. today? Are the images positive or negative? Do you agree/disagree with Kondo's perspective? And finally, is there anything can be done about the stereotypes of Asian Americans in current art/media?

Our budget

Just found out that we have around $2000 to use for the class. I suggest we start talking about how this money will be allocated so that we can give the proper people in administration a heads up. thanks!

Allison's response 2/1