Double Agency: Acts of Impersonation in Asian American Literature and Culture

Chen (English, Vanderbilt U.) proposes impersonation as a paradigm for the performative dimensions of Asian American literature and culture. Those acts of impersonation, she asserts, foreground the limits of subjectivity even as they insist upon the undeniable importance of subjecthood. Decoupling imposture from impersonation, Chen exposes misinterpretations of Asian American performances, which have often been read of acts of betrayal rather than acts of multiple allegiance. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR