A Research of the Interaction between Asian American Culture/Literature and Multiculturalism in America

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The aim of this 4-year research is to elucidate the interaction between Asian American culture/literature and Multiculturalism in America from the late 70s to the present by means of textual study and field research. In the first year of the project, 2002 (Heisei 14), I inquired into the socio-political consciousness of Asian Americans in the late 70s not only by closely analyzing the literary works written by Frank Chin and other Asian American writers in the 70s but also by interviewing some Asian American scholars and writers. In the second year, 2003 (Heisei 15), according to some Asian American scholars' advice, I investigated into the interrelation between the rise of Asian American culture literature and the changes of their socio-political consciousness in the 80s mainly through by closely analyzing the literary works written by David Henry Hwang and other Asian American writers during the decade. In the third year, 2004 (Heisei 16), I explored the changes of Asian Americans' socio-political consciousness in the 90s by comparing the literary works of the Asian American intellectuals such as Russell Leong with those of the new generation of Asian American writers such as Chay Yew. In the final year, 2005 (Heisei 17), I pursued the essence and possibilities of American multiculturalism by analyzing the changes of Asian American culture/literature for the past few decades from new perspectives such as (anti-)globalization and post-colonialism by Gayatri Spivak and other theorists.This research verifies the significance of the interaction between Asian American culture/literature and Multiculturalism in America. One of the key findings is that Asian American culture/literature, transcending the borders of ethnicity, has significantly contributed not only to the development of Multiculturalism in America but to the "globalization" of American society since the late 90s.