OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
April 7, 2014
Volume 24 Number 6
April 7, 2014
ISSN: 1094-9453
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n Marie Lo
Reviewing writers of color
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MY TURN
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A
imee Phan, author of the short story
collection We Should Never Meet and novel
The Reeducation of Cherry Truong, recently
wrote about the lack of reviews writers of color
receive in mainstream media, which prevent
writers of color from reaching a wider readership.
Her piece, “Why Mainstream Critics Fail Writers of
Color,” published in Talking Writing, an online
magazine for writers, must have touched a nerve. It
generated a ripple of discussions online, and Phan
was recently interviewed about her piece by Jian
Gomeshi on his radio program, Q.
Book reviews are crucial to introducing books to
the public, and Phan argues that even if writers of
color are getting published, they are dispropor-
tionately overlooked in mainstream media book
reviews. Phan cites research conducted by professor
and writer Roxanne Gay along with a graduate
student, which demonstrated that in 2011, for
example, 90 percent of the books reviewed in The
New York Times were by white authors. The New
York Times is often considered a gatekeeper of
literary fiction so the lack of reviews of works by
writers of color perpetuates their marginalization
and reinforces the idea that their writing only
appeals to other readers of color and not the general
reading public.
The invisibility of writers of color in mainstream
media is even more troubling in contrast to the
excessive media attention paid to books like Amy
Chua’s memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,
which seems to affirm the stereotypes the general
public already has about Asian Americans as the
model minority. As Phan points out, Asian-
American writers who do not cater to mainstream
expectations — such as Bill Cheng with his recent
novel about the south, Southern Cross the Dog —
are either completely ignored or criticized for being
“inauthentic.” The implication, of course, is how
dare writers of color draw on their imagination as
opposed to their experiences as a minority.
The fact that Phan’s piece caused such a stir both
surprises me and does not surprise me. When I
teach Asian-American literature classes, I am often
moved by students who tell me they are grateful to
learn about a literary and cultural history they
knew little about. And yet, in teaching Asian-
American literature as a distinct course, I am cog-
nizant of the fact that I am perpetuating the per-
ception that Asian-American literature is separate
from American literature, replicating the bifurca-
tion between mainstream media that reviews white
American authors and important alternative media
that focuses on promoting works by writers of color.
I know this discussion may seem like an insular
conversation whereby critics write about other
critics — a family feud of little interest to the
general public — but Asian-American literature is
American literature, a fact that cannot be over-
stated. And mainstream book reviews are arbiters
of literary value and often determine the
parameters of what is culturally significant.
Literature is both a mirror of our cultural values
and an opportunity to expand our perspectives on
what counts as American culture. If that literature
does not reflect the diverse perspectives that make
up our society, then we are reduced to seeing the
world only through the eyes of white writers, who,
unlike writers of color, are allowed the freedom to
imagine worlds populated by characters of different
ethnicities and races.
In the radio interview with Jian Gomeshi, Phan
argues about the power of literature to expand our
view of who we are as a society. “These books will
actually do wonders if you read them to clear up the
misconceptions and give you a fuller, more vibrant
picture of a community you may have dismissed
before,” she said.
In light of a recent report presented in congress by
the Sikh Coalition about the widespread incidents
of severe bullying of Sikh children in schools, there
is an added urgency to Phan’s words. In the post-
9/11 climate of increased discrimination and racism
aimed at Muslims, as well as ignorance about Islam,
Sikh children who wear turbans have become
targets of intense bullying. One of the obstacles to
better understanding Sikhs and the Sikh religion:
the absence of or negative representations of Sikhs
in schoolbooks.
I am not saying that literature can solve the
problems of racism and bullying, but we need to be
able to read about the diversity of who we are as well
as expand our notions of literary works worth
reading, promoting, and teaching. What is
ultimately at stake in this debate about literature
and book reviews is what it says about who is an
American, and whose experiences, lives, and per-
spectives are the ones we should identify with.
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.
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