June 17
2007
The Summer Blog Blast Tour kicks off today with Gene Yang at Finding Wonderland. Here's a bit of the interview:
FW: American Born Chinese was deeply meaningful for us because it had to do with ethnic identity. It's all too easy to wimp out on expressing cultural identity in favor of assimilating into the mainstream, or to feel like we don't know enough of our cultural heritage to feel like we have an identity, and these are both issues brought up in your book. The character Wong Lai-Tsao says that finding one's true identity is the "highest freedom." Do you feel that you have found your true identity in writing comics? Has working on this project affected your feelings about your own cultural identity?
Working on American Born Chinese definitely forced me to contemplate my own identity. I think Asian-Americans are in the midst of defining a culture for ourselves that builds on, yet is separate from, American and Asian cultures. Culture is dynamic and changes over time. We are constantly in dialog with our culture. American Born Chinese offered me a chance to interact with my culture, to wrestle with what it means to be an Asian-American. Have I come to any conclusions? Not really, but that lack of conclusion is an essential part of culture, I think. It's something that we live, rather than just study.
June 17
2007
06:28 PM
Rock it, SBBT!