BookDragon Books for the Diverse Reader

Identities in Motion: Asian American Film and Video by Peter X. Feng [in AsianWeek]

Identities in MotionThis time, Feng gets the whole book to himself. And if you read nothing else about film, read this introduction. His questions about identity – who defines it, how it’s defined, can it even be defined – will make you watch films in a whole new way. Split into three sections, Part I posits that films that depict our Asian American ancestors say more about contemporary Asian American politics than the historical periods they’re supposed to represent. Part II presents Asian American filmmakers documenting their journeys to Asia. Part III challenges the inadequacy of labels such as Chinaman, lesbian and refugee, reflecting again on how identity is continuously negotiated, how it’s continuously in motion.

Reviews: “Diasporic Proliferation or: We’re Here, There and Everywhere … and Growing,” Push >, NAATA: National Asian American Telecommunications Center (now the Center for Asian American Media), 2002

“New and Notable APA Books,” AsianWeek, September 26, 2002

Readers: Adult

Published: 2002

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