Full Description
Stereotypes and cultural imperialism often provide a framework of fixed characteristics for postmodern life, yet fail to address the implications of questions such as, "Where are you from?" Growing Up Transnational challenges the assumptions behind this fixed framework to look at the interconnectivity, conflict, and contradictions within current discussions of identity and kinship.
This collection offers a fresh, feminist perspective on family relations, identity politics, and cultural locations in a global era. Using an interdisciplinary approach from fields including gender studies, postcolonial theory, and literary theory, this volume questions the concept of hybridity and the tangible implications of assumed identities. The rich personal narratives of the authors explore hyphenated identities, hybridized families, and the challenges and rewards of lives on and beyond borders. The result is a new transnational sensibility that explores the redefinition of the self, the family, and the nation.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Growing Up Transnational: Identity and Family in a Global Era by May Friedman and Silvia Schultermandl
PART ONE: Redefining One's Self
Transnational Rio de Janeiro: (Re) Visiting Geographical Experiences by Alan Patrick Marcus (towson University)
When Russia Came to Stay by Lea Povohaev (Lakeland Community College)
"Neither the End of the World/ Nor the Beginning": Transnational Identity Politics in Lisa Suhair Majaj's Self-Writing by Silvia Schultermandl
Identity and Belonging among Second Generation Greek and Italian Canadian Women by Noula Mina (PhD cand., University of Toronto)
Time and Space in the Life of Pierre S. Weiss: Autoethnographic Engagements with Memory and Trans/Dis/Location by Samuel Veissière (University College of the North)
PART TWO: Redefining the Nation
Contemporary Croatian Film and the New Social Economy by Jelena Šesnic (University of Zagreb)
Identity, Bodies, and Second Generation Returnees in West Africa by Erin Kenny (Drury University)
What is an Autobiographical Author?: Becoming the Other by Julian Vigo (Université de Montréal)
Transnational Identity Mappings in Andrea Levy's Fiction by Sebnem Toplu (Ege University)
PART THREE: Redefining the Family
The Personal, the Political, and the Complexity of Identity: Some Thoughts on Mothering by May Friedman
Mothers on the Move: Experiences of Indonesian Women Migrant Worker by Theresa W Devasahayam (Civil Service College, Singapore) and Noor Abdul Rahman (National University of Singapore)
From Changowitz and to Bailey Wong: Mixed Heritage and Transnational Families in Gish Jen's Fiction by Lan Dong (University of Illinois at Springfield)
Tug-o-War: The Gender Dynamics of Parenting in a Bi/Transnational Family by Katrin Kriz (Emmanuel College) and Uday Manandhar
Notes
References
Contributors
Index
