Description
Book SynopsisUntil quite recently, Asian American literary criticism had little to do with form. Instead, the tendency was to bind the literary tradition to identity formation. For Elda Tsou, however, the distinctions of ethnic writing extend beyond such facile referential practices to incorporate form and aesthetics.
In Unquiet Tropes, Tsou reconceptualizes the literature as a set of highly particular classical rhetorical tropes including antanaclasis, rhetorical question, apophasis, catachresis, and allegory. Looking at five canonical worksAiiieeeee!, No-No Boy, China Men, Blu's Hanging, and Native SpeakerTsou shows how these texts use figurative means to confront the problem of race. She also explores how traces of Asian American history live on through these figures.
Each case study in Unquiet Tropes considers a different scenariodefiance, coercion, necessity, error, and deceitto show how literary representation from the 19
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Aiiieeeee! and the Phantom Trope 1 Rhetorical Question: No-No Boy and Coercion 2 Apophasis: China Men and Necessity 3 Catachresis: Blu’s Hanging and Error 4 Allegory: Native Speaker and Deceit Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
