Transitive Cultures: Anglophone Literature of the Transpacific

Author:   Christopher B. Patterson
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
ISBN:  

9780813591865


Pages:   256
Publication Date:   02 April 2018
Recommended Age:   From 18 to 99 years
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Our Price $108.11 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Transitive Cultures: Anglophone Literature of the Transpacific


Add your own review!

Overview

Winner of the 2020 Shelley Fisher Fishkin Prize from the American Studies Association Texts written by Southeast Asian migrants have often been read, taught, and studied under the label of multicultural literature. But what if the ideology of multiculturalism-with its emphasis on authenticity and identifiable cultural difference-is precisely what this literature resists?   Transitive Cultures offers a new perspective on transpacific Anglophone literature, revealing how these chameleonic writers enact a variety of hybrid, transnational identities and intimacies. Examining literature from Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as from Southeast Asian migrants in Canada, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland, this book considers how these authors use English strategically, as a means for building interethnic alliances and critiquing ruling power structures in both Southeast Asia and North America. Uncovering a wealth of texts from queer migrants, those who resist ethnic stereotypes, and those who feel few ties to their ostensible homelands, Transitive Cultures challenges conventional expectations regarding diaspora and minority writers.

Full Product Details

Author:   Christopher B. Patterson
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
Imprint:   Rutgers University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.367kg
ISBN:  

9780813591865


ISBN 10:   0813591864
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   02 April 2018
Recommended Age:   From 18 to 99 years
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: Pluralism, Transition, and the Anglophone Part 1: Histories 1          Multiracial Clans in Colorful Malaya: Pluralism, Intimacy, and Transition 2          So that the Sparks that Fly Will Fly in All Directions: Pluralism and Revolution in the Philippines Part 2: Mobilities 3          Liberal Tolerance and Asian Migrancy: Migrancy, Satire, and Reciprocity 4          Just an American Darker than the Rest: On Queer Brown Exile Part 3: Genres 5          Mutant Hybrids Seek the Global Unconscious: Cynicism, Chick-Lit, Ecstasy 6          Speculative Fiction and Authorial Transition Conclusion: Identity, Authenticity, Collectivity Works Cited Notes Index  

Reviews

""Transitive Cultures is well-researched, eloquently written, and admirably ambitious in geographic and literary scope. Christopher B. Patterson's reframing of Anglophone literature stands to substantially enrich existing conversations among scholars in English studies, comparative literature, and Asian studies."" - Belinda Kong (author of Tiananmen Fictions Outside the Square) “An original introduction to twenty-first century literary criticism, Transitive Cultures illuminates for the first time the diachronic nodes of globalization, re-orienting its history in Southeast Asia, to link Asian decolonizing discourses with American disaporic, queer, and critical cultural studies.” - Shirley Geok-lin Lim (author of Among the White Moon Faces, recipient of the American Book Award) ""Transitive Cultures deals with Anglophone Southeast Asian literature as complex cultural practices critical of multicultural governance handed down by Western colonialism. A deftly drawn map for approaching the most trenchant literary works of the region, Patterson's book is a much-needed guide for navigating the endless crisis of our ever-globalizing world."" - Vicente L. Rafael (author of Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language Amid Wars of Translation) New Books in Asian American Studies podcast interview with Christopher Patterson (New Books in Asian American Studies podcast) ""Transitive Cultures is especially and unreservedly recommended for college and academic library Contemporary Sociology collections, as well as the supplemental studies reading lists in Asian American Studies, Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Race and Ethnic Studies."" (Midwest Book Review) ""New Scholarly Books: Weekly Book List, May 25, 2018"" by Nina C. Ayoub (Chronicle of Higher Education) ""Especially welcome is how Patterson’s transpacific frame helps to intensify rather than dilute the stakes of race, gender, and sexuality in texts that have most often been approached as national minority literatures....Patterson’s book offers new ways of reading and providing new modes of racial, gender, and sexual belonging that attend to the complexities and contradictions brought to light through a transpacific reframing of nation and transnation."" (American Literary History) ""Patterson’s critical perspectives on the institutionalization of diversity and multiculturalism make Transitive Cultures a necessary read for all given how these concepts permeate U.S. culture and are often used to uphold the Western, white hegemony they claim to fight against."" (Popular Culture Review) ""Transitive Cultures joins a growing number of scholarly essays and monographs arguing for greater attention to Southeast Asian literary and cultural production on many fronts. It makes a timely intervention into the field of contemporary literary studies by offering both a critical and an oceanic paradigm with which to illuminate the existing and emerging connections between Southeast Asian authors and texts and the promises and pitfalls of a globalizing world."" (Contemporary Literature) ""A rigorous comparative study of literature and a theoretically astute analysis....Transitive Cultures is a well-grounded, systematically organized investigation that offers a perceptive reconceptualization of minority literature and is particularly helpful for scholars of Asian American studies, Southeast Asian studies, theories of diaspora, postcolonialism, critical cultural studies, and beyond."" (Journal of Asian American Studies)


An original introduction to twenty-first century literary criticism, Transitive Cultures illuminates for the first time the diachronic nodes of globalization, re-orienting its history in Southeast Asia, to link Asian decolonizing discourses with American disaporic, queer, and critical cultural studies. --Shirley Geok-lin Lim author of Among the White Moon Faces, recipient of the American Book Award An original introduction to 21st century literary criticism, Transitive Cultures illuminates for the first time the diachronic nodes of globalization, re-orienting its history in Southeast Asia, to link Asian decolonizing discourses with American disaporic, queer and critical cultural studies. --Shirley Geok-lin Lim author of Among the White Moon Faces, recipient of the American Book Award Transitive Cultures is well-researched, eloquently written, and admirably ambitious in geographic and literary scope. Christopher B. Patterson's reframing of Anglophone literature stands to substantially enrich existing conversations among scholars in English studies, comparative literature, and Asian studies. --Belinda Kong author of Tiananmen Fictions Outside the Square


New Scholarly Books: Weekly Book List, May 25, 2018 by Nina C. Ayoub--Chronicle of Higher Education Transitive Cultures is especially and unreservedly recommended for college and academic library Contemporary Sociology collections, as well as the supplemental studies reading lists in Asian American Studies, Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Race and Ethnic Studies. --Midwest Book Review New Books in Asian American Studies podcast interview with Christopher Patterson --New Books in Asian American Studies podcast Transitive Cultures deals with Anglophone Southeast Asian literature as complex cultural practices critical of multicultural governance handed down by Western colonialism. A deftly drawn map for approaching the most trenchant literary works of the region, Patterson's book is a much-needed guide for navigating the endless crisis of our ever-globalizing world. --Vicente L. Rafael author of Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language Amid Wars of Translation An original introduction to twenty-first century literary criticism, Transitive Cultures illuminates for the first time the diachronic nodes of globalization, re-orienting its history in Southeast Asia, to link Asian decolonizing discourses with American disaporic, queer, and critical cultural studies. --Shirley Geok-lin Lim author of Among the White Moon Faces, recipient of the American Book Award Transitive Cultures is well-researched, eloquently written, and admirably ambitious in geographic and literary scope. Christopher B. Patterson's reframing of Anglophone literature stands to substantially enrich existing conversations among scholars in English studies, comparative literature, and Asian studies. --Belinda Kong author of Tiananmen Fictions Outside the Square


Author Information

CHRISTOPHER B. PATTERSON is an assistant professor at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

RGJUNE2025

 

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List