Japanese in Vineland redux

[Teen Age Riot]

A while back, someone brought up the Japanese element in Vineland, as in,
what was it doing there?  The question kind of got glossed over without much
discussion by everyone on the list, including me.  However, now I'm taking a
new class on representations of Asian culture in American literature(by
writers OTHER than Asian-Americans) and the question allofasudden seems
pretty damn interesting.  Previously, the most notable reference that I can
think of to Asia, in all of TRP's work, is number 37, the "Fu Manchu".  I
can't recall of a single Asian character.  So why did he insert this
half-submerged Japanese thread running through Vineland?  Here's a
particular example: How does the Sisterhood of Kunoichi Attentives reinforce
or reverse Asian AND Caucasian female stereotypes?

Thinking all of this would make for a rather interesting paper, but that's
just tha grubby academic in me talking.

Al
__________________________________________
al wang
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~alwang/home.htm
talk request: alwang at random.resnet.upenn.edu

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