scholarly journals New Land, New Rubrics: Presenting Diasporic Experience of Asian-American Immigrants in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Selected Short Stories

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 278-285
Author(s):  
Hassan Bin Zubair ◽  
Akifa Imtiaz ◽  
Asma Kashif Shahzad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Short Stories ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Her Family ◽  
American Society ◽  
Central Characters ◽  
Asian American Immigrants

This research explored the lives and worldviews of Asian immigrants in the United States presented in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's stories in The Unknown Errors of Our Lives (2001). Central characters in Divakaruni's narratives embody the sufferings of immigrants in the New Land. Precisely it was proposed to study the stories from the perspective of the diaspora. In this collection, the researcher has selected five stories, including "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter," "The Intelligence of Wild Things," "The Blooming Season for Cacti," "The Names of Stars in Bengali," and "The Unknown Errors of Our Lives." Since the characters like Mrs. Dutta, Mira, Radhika, and Kahuku's mother emigrate from India to different zones of America, they combat issues of cultural contradiction, identity crisis, disruption and family strives. Unlike them, Tarun, Mrs. Dutta's son, and her family are assimilated into the American society, whereas the characters such as Mrs. Dutta, Didi, and Mira recurrently remember their original house and early childhood days with friends. It is because they are fragmented and frustrated in America. The study concluded that the characters in her stories are ambitious and want to live a luxurious life but because of the lack of opportunities, they could not fulfill their desires and even some of them decided to return to their homeland to get a better life.

scholarly journals Jasmine’s Travail from Widowhood to Selfhood in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 185
Author(s):  
Shukla Saha
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian American ◽  
New World ◽  
American Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Bharati Mukherjee ◽  
Indian Village ◽  
Shifting Identities

Bharati Mukherjee happens to be a prominent Asian American writer who has in her works vividly represented the experiences of Asian immigrants and the evolution of their migrant selves in America.Her works reflect both, her pride in her Indian heritage and also her earnestness for embracing the new world, America. Mukherjee’s much acclaimed novel Jasmine depicts the story of a young Punjabi woman who dares to rebel against the norms of patriarchy since her childhood. Her stifling experiences of leading the life of a widow in a small Indian village of Hasnapur doesn’t dent her spirit as she dares to sail on her own as an illegal immigrant to the United States on a mission to perform ritual Sati on the campus where her dead husband had enrolled to study. The problems of acculturation drags immigrants like her into an identity crisis. But it does not deter her, as she continuously strives to refashion herself to fit into the mainstream American culture. In this context, the paper attempts to explore how the feminist protagonist, Jasmine, through her shifting identities rediscovers her own independent self by assimilating into the land of opportunity, i.e., America.

Japanese Reinvention of Self through Hawai‘i’s Japanese Americans

2012 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujin Yaguchi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Japanese Americans ◽  
Japanese History ◽  
Postwar Japan ◽  
Postwar Reconstruction ◽  
American Hegemony ◽  
Modern Japanese History ◽  
American Society

This article investigates the relationship between Asian American and modern Japanese history by analyzing the image of Japanese Americans in postwar Japan. Based on a book of photographs featuring Japanese immigrants in Hawai‘i published in 1956, it analyzes how their image was appropriated and redefined in Japan to promote as well as reinforce the nation’s political and cultural alliance with the United States. The photographs showed the successful acculturation of Japanese in Hawai‘i to the larger American society and urged the Japanese audience to see that their nation’s postwar reconstruction would come through the power and protection of the United States. Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i served as a lens through which the Japanese in Japan could imagine their position under American hegemony in the age of Cold War.

Reinventing the Self in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-38
Author(s):  
Radha Devi Sharma
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
Foreign Land ◽  
American Society

Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine is a story of a young Punjabi woman named Jasmine whose life takes her from India to the United States, where she goes through many different destinies with her effort to reinvent her coherent self. Searching for and defining a new identity is a central question for immigrants living in a foreign land. The confusion of identity and cultural conflict pushes the immigrants into an identity crisis. The novel exposes how Jasmine, the female protagonist, as an outsider, strives to shape her identity to fit in the mainstream American society. Fortunately, she encounters confirmations of her shifting identity in different stages of her life. Instead of rejecting these identities and names in various phases, she seeks to create a harmonious relationship with those identities. In this context, this paper tries to explore on how she struggles throughout her life to reinvent the coherent self by her constant effort to assimilate to the alien culture and setting.Crossing the Border: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Vol.4(1) 2016: 29-38

Why Asian Americans are Becoming Mainstream

Daedalus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Nee ◽  
Hilary Holbrow
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Socioeconomic Attainment ◽  
Residential Communities ◽  
Asian Immigration ◽  
Asian American Immigrants

In contrast to earlier waves of immigration, the post–1965 Asian immigration to the United States has not spawned an exclusionist backlash among native whites. Rather, the new Asian immigrants and their children are rapidly gaining access to the American mainstream. Whether in integrated residential communities, in colleges and universities, or in mainstream workplaces, Asian Americans' presence is ever more the rule, not the exception. The success of so many Asian American immigrants suggests that race may not be as decisive a factor in shaping socioeconomic attainment as it was in the American past; civil rights reform has been incorporated in a more inclusive American mainstream. As a group in which those of legal status predominate, Asian Americans have enjoyed more open access to mainstream institutions, paving the way to their rapid assimilation.

Engaging South Asian youth and families: A clinical review

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 584-592
Author(s):  
Neha Sharma ◽  
Deepika Shaligram ◽  
Grace H Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Mental Health Stigma

Objective: South Asians (SAs), a rapidly growing minority group in the United States are underrepresented in mental health research. They represent a unique sub-group of Asian immigrants in that their journey to the United States in the last 50 years was driven by the pursuit of academic and career opportunities. Our goal is to provide a topical overview of factors contributing to the mental health challenges of South Asian American (SAA) youth and to describe culturally sensitive approaches that would provide effective treatment for SAA youth and their families. Methods: We conducted a review of published literature in PubMed and PsycInfo search engines using the key words South Asian immigrants, South Asian Americans, psychological, psychiatric, mental health treatment, therapy and interventions. Results: The challenges faced by these highly educated families are distinctive in that there is a struggle to maintain ethnic identity based on collectivism while embracing American ideals of individualism. These opposing values along with model minority expectations put SAs at high risk for mental health concerns and acculturative family distancing. Furthermore, mental health stigma impedes help-seeking. Mental health practitioners must navigate the different value systems of the parent–child dyad without ostracizing either generation and deliver effective care. Hence, culturally adapted family therapy and community-based approaches may be particularly relevant in SA youth. Conclusion: Our article outlines common family attitudes and issues pertinent to mental health in youth and discusses useful clinical approaches to dealing with SAA youth and their families.

scholarly journals Factor Structures of Reasons for Immigration Among Older Asian and Latino Immigrants in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soohyun Park ◽  
Giyeon Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Latino Immigrants ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Older Immigrants ◽  
Culturally Sensitive Interventions ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Design And Methods ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Abstract Backgrounds and Objectives Although reasons for immigration are significant predictors of immigrants’ health, factor structures of reasons for immigration are still unclear among older immigrants. The present study examined the factor structure of reasons for immigration among older Asian and Latino immigrants in the United States. Research Design and Methods Drawn from the National Latino and Asian American Study, 396 Latino and 298 Asian immigrants over 55 years of age were selected for analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted for nine items concerning reasons for immigration in each immigrant group. Results Three factors were extracted from both Asian and Latino immigrant elders: (a) “voluntary reasons” to pursue development, (b) “involuntary reasons” due to uncontrollable situations, and (c) “semivoluntary reasons” regarding family/medical duties. While immigration to join family members was located in the “semivoluntary reasons” factor among older Asian immigrants, it was located in the “voluntary reasons” factor among older Latino immigrants. Discussion and Implications These findings suggest that three underlying factors of reasons for immigration should be understood considering the different characteristics of two racial/ethnic groups of immigrants. In addition, a migratory reason to join the family should be considered differently for elderly Asian and Latino immigrants. This three-factor framework of reasons for immigration can help clinicians provide more culturally sensitive interventions for older minority immigrants.

Japanese Reinvention of Self through Hawai‘i’s Japanese Americans

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujin Yaguchi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Japanese Americans ◽  
Japanese History ◽  
Postwar Japan ◽  
Postwar Reconstruction ◽  
American Hegemony ◽  
Modern Japanese History ◽  
American Society

This chapter investigates the relationship between Asian American and modern Japanese history by analyzing the image of Japanese Americans in postwar Japan. Based on a book of photographs featuring Japanese immigrants in Hawai‘i published in 1956, it analyzes how their image was appropriated and redefined in Japan to promote as well as reinforce the nation’s political and cultural alliance with the United States. The photographs showed the successful acculturation of Japanese in Hawai‘i to the larger American society and urged the Japanese audience to see that their nation’s postwar reconstruction would come through the power and protection of the United States. Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i served as a lens through which the Japanese in Japan could imagine their position under American hegemony in the age of Cold War.

scholarly journals Talent Selection and the Reshaping of Asian North America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin N. Ho
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Talent Selection ◽  
Asian Immigration ◽  
Socioeconomic Diversity ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Skilled Immigrant ◽  
Immigrant Selection

Policies that admit immigrants based on their education have dramatically reshaped the demographics of the United States and Canada. In the mid-1960s, facing pressures to open their borders to non-Europeans, both countries replaced previous policies of racial and nationality discrimination with new systems of socioeconomic discrimination. These policies explain the growth of Asian immigration from the 1970s onward, as well as the high levels of education among Asian immigrants and their descendants. Refugees and family migrants, however, added socioeconomic diversity. Recent developments in skilled immigrant selection programs will continue to shape Asian American and Asian Canadian demographics in the future.

Parenting and Prosocial/Moral Development in Asians and Asian Immigrants to the United States

2019 ◽  
pp. 212-226
Author(s):  
Alexandra Main
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Moral Development ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Asian Origin ◽  
Prosocial Development ◽  
Empirical Approaches

This chapter discusses theoretical and empirical approaches to studying moral development (particularly the development of empathy-related responses and prosocial behavior) in Asians and Asian immigrants to the United States, including processes of acculturation. Individuals of Asian origin make up roughly 60 percent of the world’s population, but connections between moral development and parenting in this population are poorly understood. In reviewing the available research, this chapter emphasizes an understanding of risk and protective factors and within-culture approaches to understanding links between parenting and prosocial development in Asians and Asian Americans. Recommendations for future research are outlined, including understanding the functions of prosociality and parenting through a cultural lens, the need for more research on the heterogeneity of the experience of Asian and Asian American subgroups, and a greater appreciation of the multifaceted nature of moral development and parenting in theory and empirical research with these populations.

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