Japanese as aliens-transitions in representations of Japanese in American literature

本研究的目的是分析日本人在美国文学中的表现。对于这一时期，我选择了1890年至1930年这一时期，即日美关系日益紧张的时期。对于作者，我选择了华莱士欧文，一个幽默的作家谁创造了“桥村多哥”，一个日本小学生。之所以选择这一时期，是因为来自日本的移民不是典型的类型：他们中的许多人来自富裕的家庭，教育水平很高。因此，与公众认为移民是社会阶梯的攀登者相反，来自日本的移民正在爬下阶梯。他们的困境可以用欧文的一句话来概括：“日本学生，家庭佣人”。因此，日本人（大多数是男性），即使他们长大了，在自己的国家有体面的社会地位，也是“男孩”，而那些男性则成为女仆。华莱士欧文在他的系列小说中以一种惊人而幽默的方式利用了这一悖论。在我们看来，欧文创造了桥村多哥借鉴自己的经验，作为一个贫穷的白色在美国工作的方式，这样做，他成功地挑战了占主导地位的种族，性别和阶级的概念。

The objective of this research project has been to analyze how Japanese have been represented in American literature. For the period, I have chosen the period spanning 1890-1930 ; the period of mounting tension between Japan and the United States. For the author, I have chosen Wallace Irwin, a humorous writer who has created "Hashimura Togo", a Japanese schoolboy. This period has been picked because the immigrants from Japan were not of the typical type : many of them were from well to do families with high level of education. Thus, contrary to the public perception of immigrants as social ladder climbers, immigrants from Japan were climbing down the ladder. Their plight is summarized in Irwin's term "Japanese schoolboy, a domestic servant". Thus the Japanese (mostly male), even though they were grown up, with respectable social standing in their own country, were "boys", and those who were male became maid-help. The paradox is exploited in a striking and humorous way by Wallace Irwin in his series. In our view, Irwin has created Hashimura Togo drawing on his own experience as a poor white in the U.S.working his way up ; in doing so, he has successfully challenged the dominant conception of race, gender and class.