Description
Book SynopsisWhat does becoming American have to do with becoming religious? Many immigrants become more religious after coming to the United States. Taiwanese are no different. Like many Asian immigrants to the United States, Taiwanese frequently convert to Christianity after immigrating. But Americanization is more than simply a process of Christianization. M
Trade Review"This book thus offers interesting points of view on the construction of identity and constitutes a good reference for understanding the family and religious traditions of the Taiwanese people: meaningful anecdotes, examples, and quotations, and a psychological approach."--Hayet Sellami, China Perspectives "[R]eaders will certainly agree that Getting Saved in America is an engaging , insightful, and well-written book about immigrants and their religious conversion... Getting Saved will be a standard text for contemporary studies of immigrants and religious conversion. It is a must-read and will no doubt be in the running for the best book lists of the year in the fields of immigration and religion."--Rebbeca Y. Kim, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion "Getting Saved in America: Taiwanese Immigration and Religious Experience will be an invaluable addition to the fields of sociology and religion, religion and immigration, Asian American studies and Ethnic Studies and illuminative for both students and scholars."--Sharon A. Suh, Journal of Politics and Religion "Chen has ... provided a valuable new resource for both researchers and teachers, one which well compliments other studies on immigrant religion by focusing on its transformative, not just preservative, aspects. Scholars of both religious studies and sociology will learn much from this work."--Jeff Wilson, Church History
Table of ContentsA Note on Translations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Becoming Religious by Becoming American 1 Chapter 1. From Beautiful Island (Ilha Formosa) to Beautiful Country (America: Bi-kuo/Mei-guo) TAIWANESE IMMIGRATION AND RELIGION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 16 Chapter 2. Becoming Christian BREAKING TRADITIONS AND MAKING TRADITIONS 38 Chapter 3. Becoming Buddhist FROM EMBEDDED RELIGION TO EXPLICIT RELIGION 77 Chapter 4. Becoming American Men and Women OTHERWORLDLY NARRATIVES AND THIS-WORLDLY SELVES 111 Chapter 5. Cultivating American Saints RELIGIOUS DISCIPLINES OF THE SELF 146 Conclusion: Becoming Americans FROM MIGRANTS TO PILGRIMS 186 Appendix Interview Schedule 203 References 207 Index 227
