Description
Book SynopsisTheorizes race and nation in the cultural aftermath of the LA riots
Trade Review“Min Hyoung Song’s
Strange Future asks of us—a public formed by the Los Angeles riots of 1992—what is to be done with the will to revolution in light of the injustices mounting since the 1990s? Clearing precious critical space, Song exemplifies our capture by and necessary revisitation of 1992, as neither fatalism nor melancholy, but a careful hermeneutic of the event and its aftermath: a working-through that is a provision for a possible future. This is a thoughtful work for our serious times.”—Lisa Lowe, author of
Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics“This is one of the most enjoyable, well-written Asian American studies books I have read in the last few years. Min Hyoung Song’s work is a testament to writing well when saying something important.”— Kent Ono, coauthor of
Shifting Borders: Rhetoric, Immigration, and California's Proposition 187“[T]his book is an important contribution to Asian American studies. Not only scholars in Asian American literature but also social scientists studying Asian Americans can learn a great deal from this book about how to analyze social and political problems affecting Asian American experiences by reviewing major cultural products.”
-- Pyong Gap Min * Journal of Asian American Studies *
Table of ContentsPreface vii
Introduction: When the Strange Erupts in Culture 1
1. Racial Geography of Southern California 27
2. The Black Body in Pain: Rodney King and Strange Days 68
3. Culture of Wounding: The Riots and
Twilight 100
4. Mourning Los Angeles 134
5. A Diasporic Future? Historical Trauma and Native Speaker 165
Epilogue: Bearer of Bad News 199
Notes 215
Works Cited 257
Filmography 271
Index 273
