Good Chinese Girls and the Model Minority: Race, Education, and Community in "Girl in Translation" and "Front Desk"

Autor/inn/en	Chen, Shih-Wen Sue; Lau, Sin Wen
Titel	Good Chinese Girls and the Model Minority: Race, Education, and Community in "Girl in Translation" and "Front Desk"
Quelle	In: Children's Literature in Education, 52 (2021) 3, S.291-306 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Chen, Shih-Wen Sue)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0045-6713
DOI	10.1007/s10583-020-09415-8
Schlagwörter	Childrens Literature; Chinese Americans; Language Usage; Acculturation; Social Behavior; Behavior Standards; Asian Culture; Cultural Influences; Females; Self Concept; Asian Americans; Models; Minority Groups + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? 'Children''s literature'; Kinderliteratur; Asian immigrant; Chinese; United States; Asiatischer Einwanderer; Chinesen; USA; Sprachgebrauch; Akkulturation; Social behaviour; Soziales Verhalten; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Weibliches Geschlecht; Selbstkonzept; Analogiemodell; Ethnische Minderheit
Abstract	The girl protagonists in Jean Kwok's "Girl in Translation" and Kelly Yang's "Front Desk" embody and reinterpret the notion of "guai" (loosely translated as "good") in their struggle to adapt to life in America. "Guai" is the most important concept governing childhood in Chinese societies. The word, often used to praise children, denotes obedience, docility, the acceptance of authority and conformity to accepted norms of behaviour. This essay explores how familial, racial and institutional forces impinge on and reshape the protagonists' understanding of what it means to be a "good Chinese girl" to push beyond analyses of Asian American texts for young people as perpetuating or challenging the idea of the model minority. Given the significance of "guai" in the lives of Chinese American children, it is necessary to analyse how specific Asian cultural logics are adapted to the American context. Discussions about Asian American identities must not only explicate the "American-ness" of characters' choices but also consider the ways in which "Chineseness" shapes, constitutes and diversifies the "Asian" in what it means to be an Asian American. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01