Research Catalog

Title

The politics of life : four plays by Asian American women / edited and with an introduction and commentaries by Velina Hasu Houston.

Publication

• Philadelphia : Temple University Press, [1993]
• ©1993

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Houston, Velina Hasu.
• Yamauchi, Wakako.
• Lim, Genny.

Description

xiii, 274 p. : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

"This anthology of work by three Asian American women playwrights--Wakako Yamauchi, Genny Lim, and Velina Hasu Houston--features pioneering contemporary writers who have made their mark in regional and ethnic theatres throughout the United States. In her introduction, Houston observes that the Asian American woman playwright is compelled "to mine her soul" and express the angst, fear, and rage that oppression has wrought while maintaining her relationship with America as a good citizen. The plays are rich with cultural and political substance and have a feminist concern about women's spirit, intellect, and lives. They portray Asian and Asian American women who challenge the cultural and sexual stereotypes of the Asian female. Yamauchi's two plays deal with how easily a country can dishonor its citizens. In "12-1-A," a Japanese American family is incarcerated during World War II in an Arizona camp where Yamauchi herself was interned. "The Chairman's Wife" dramatizes the life of Madame Mao Tse Tung through the lens of events at Tien An Men Square in 1989. Lim's "Bitter Cane" is about the exploitation of Chinese laborers who were recruited to work the Hawaiian sugar cane plantations. In "Asa Ga Kimashita" ("Morning Has Broken"), Houston explores a Japanese woman's interracial romance in postwar Japan and the influence of traditional patriarchy on the lives of Japanese women."--Publisher's description.

Series Statement

Asian American history and culture

Uniform Title

Asian American history and culture.

Subject

• 1900-1999
• American drama > Asian American authors
• American drama > Women authors
• American drama > 20th century
• Asian Americans > Drama
• American drama
• American drama > Asian American authors
• American drama > Women authors
• Asian Americans
• Anthologie
• Asiaten
• Drama
• Frauendrama
• USA
• Asiaten

Genre/Form

• Drama
• Drama.
• Théâtre.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Contents

• 12-1-A ; The chairman's wife / Wakako Yamauchi -- Bitter cane / Genny Lim -- Asa ga kimashita (Morning has broken) / Velina Hasu Houston.
• Wakako Yamauchi -- 12-1-A / Wakako Yamauchi -- The Chairman's Wife / Wakako Yamauchi -- Genny Lim -- Bitter Cane / Genny Lim -- Velina Hasu Houston -- Asa Ga Kimashita (Morning Has Broken) / Velina Hasu Houston.

ISBN

• 1566390001
• 9781566390002
• 156639001X
• 9781566390019

LCCN

92013090

OCLC

• ocm25746746
• 25746746
• SCSB-8416426

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library