Here are some topics for discussion for tomorrow’s class.
- What is Hsu’s argument and how does she use her evidence to support her claims?
- Let’s do a refresher on an important concept in the book – What is the transnationalism to which Hsu refers?
- How does Hsu conceptualize the process of migration? Where does it fit in to older “uprooting,” “invasion,” or “assimilation” models?
- We gained a thorough understanding of the way that the Chinese were viewed in the US through Jung’s Coolies and Cane. One criticism we had of that book was that we didn’t see the actual voices and experiences of Chinese American “coolies.” Do you feel that this book addressed this issue well? Do the Chinese come across as victims or tenacious migrants? *Both*?!
- How present is race in her discussion of the way immigrants conceptualized themselves and the hardships they encountered? What about class? Gender?
- Do you think this book is an example for other works on immigration? Can it be adopted to analyze other migrant groups who weren’t as overtly “transnational” as the Taishanese?
- Are there certain drawbacks to Hsu’s transnational approach or areas where her content fails to live up to the boldly transnational claims she makes in the introduction? What are the limits of ascribing transnational identities to historical peoples if it is viewed as a postmodern phenomenon, as Hsu notes on page 8?