Jane Yoo's Native Speaker Analysis

484 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Asian American cultural identity

Similar to the first source, this is found in an article in the Asian American Policy Review, an academic journal containing writings of Asian-American authors who describe issues in the United States and their impact on the Asian-American community. Jane Yoo, the author, holds a position at the JFK School of Government at Harvard and serves as a master in public policy, qualifying her to effectively analyze Korean-American agency. Yoo conducts an in-depth analysis on the message and thematic elements of Chang-rae Lee’s novel, Native Speaker. Yoo surrounds her analysis around the alienation of the Korean-American protagonist, Henry Park, through his interactions with both his white ex-wife and Korean father. These interactions are marked …show more content…

Park does not truly belong to one or the other but is rather a fusion of the two cultures. Yoo describes the second-generation Korean American identity as one that will willingly throw away aspects of Korean culture to adapt and assimilate into their new surroundings. This rejection of the Korean identity seemingly distances Park from his father, who has deep connections to his Korean roots, and at the same time, alienates himself from fully being accepted into American culture for having an identity built upon a foundation of his Korean identity. Yoo, altogether, describes the formation of Korean American agency as one that alienates them further, making them unable to be a ‘native speaker’ for either the Korean or American experiences. Themes present in Yoo’s analysis can also be found in Oh’s analysis of the Los Angeles Riots and its imprint on Korean American agency. Oh describes that Korean Americans were essentially ignored by law enforcement and ignored in the political and public spheres. Yoo identifies the cause of this in her description of alienation of bicultural peoples, especially in their assimilation to American culture. The ignorance and total disregard for Korean American bodies led to the political revolution and desire for

Show More
Related

  • Notes For A Poem On Being Asian American Summary

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    By separating from her Asian culture Wong hoped to be able to be more American. Her longing to be American was obvious with her statement, “ at last, I was one of you”, “you” signifying Americans (Wong 3). On the other hand, Dwight Okita perspective was one of acceptance, even showing that he associates more as an American. Okita acknowledged the two cultures as independent entities, but knew that they were intertwined. A metaphor was used to show this connection.

    Read More

  • The Cultural Rule: Hong Ulsu And Kang Pyongju

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    This shows how complex Japanese and Korean interactions with each other are during this time period, because on one hand many people are experiencing extreme racism such as vulgar racism, while here a Japanese person is treating a Korean person with respect and kindness. This shows how nothing is black and white when interacting with people, however it can also be credited for this period of cultural rule and the government’s effort at assimilation with Koreans and Japanese. Kang Pyongju’s experience differs from Ulsu’s experience in which he did not have a close relationship with his business partner, however, the relationship he had with his work was subtle and affective racism where he observed racism and how it disenfranchise him and his people throughout his work. For example, he noticed that now the Bank of Agriculture now decided to let Koreans apply which benefited him and any other Koreans, however it has its flaw when the bank selected more Japanese than Koreans, regardless of how qualified a Korean is. He also noticed that although it appeared as if the salaries for both Japanese and Korean bank managers appeared to be the same, Japanese people received

    Read More

  • The Emergence Of Korean Women In The 1920's

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    The deeply rooted history of a Confucian paradigm in Korea has for long limited women’s roles and rights. In the male-dominated and patriarchal society, women’s roles remained in the domestic sphere, where they were required to be submissive. However, with the introduction of westernization and modernity in the 1920s, modern generation was rapidly incorporated into colonial modernity. Korean women began to “redefine the Korean female identity” by displaying the “new woman” characteristics, in which some literate women initiated to “enhance their education, determine their own physical appearance, and contribute to the debate about changing gender roles and expectations”(Yoo, p.59) Fearing the threat of the emergence of the “new women” with the potential disturbance to the hegemony, Japanese colonial authorities as well as nationalist reformers veered the direction where the new ideologies of womanhood with modern sensibilities, also contained them within traditional gender boundaries, such as in education and social spheres(Yoo, 60). Park Kyung Won, the main female character in the film Blue Swallow, also lived during this era of the “new women” as well as restrictions under the Japanese colonial rule. In the film Blue Swallow, while her father encouraged her to stay at home for her to fit into the role of the traditional women, Park works as a taxi driver and eventually studies abroad to attend Tachikawa Flight academy, where she becomes the first civilian Korean female pilot. She displays the “new women” image, in which like the other “new women”, she does not conform to the traditional norms of a woman and strives in redefining the Korean female identity. However, her engagement in male-dominated education and profession, “ma...

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mother Tongue by Amy Tan was one of the best short stories I have ever read and I am excited to analyze it. Tan was born in California to Chinese immigrants. She writes in her story about the struggles she faced with language. Tan makes great use of ethos, pathos and logos in her essay to make her claim that there are many Englishes, and none should be considered wrong.

    Read More

  • Richard Aoki and The Black Power Movements

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tachiki, Amy; Wong, Eddie; Odo, Franklin, eds. (1971). Roots: An Asian American Reader. University of California, Los Angeles Press.

    Read More

  • The Story Of Do In Kwon And Hee Kyung Lee

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    Written by Margaret K. Pai, the Dreams of Two Yi-min narrates the story of her Korean American family with the main focus on the life journeys of her father and mother, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee. Much like the majority of the pre-World War II immigrants, the author’s family is marked and characterized by the common perception of the “typical” Asian immigrant status in the early 20th century: low class, lack of English speaking ability, lack of transferable education and skills, and lack of knowledge on the host society’s mainstream networks and institutions (Zhou and Gatewood 120, Zhou 224). Despite living in a foreign land with countless barriers and lack of capital, Kwon lead his wife and children to assimilate culturally, economically, and structurally through his growing entrepreneurship. Lee, on the other hand, devoted herself not only to her husband’s business but also to the Korean American society. By investing her time in the Korean Methodist Church and the efforts of its associated societies, such as the Methodist Ladies Aid Society and the Youngnam Puin Hoe, Lee made a worthy contribution to the emergence and existence of Hawaii’s Korean American community.

    Read More

  • Notes Of A Native Speaker Summary

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    For hundreds of years, America has been not only a country, but an idea. An idea that anyone with ambition and good values can rise up from wherever they are, come to America, and achieve success. All that was required of them back them was a command of the language and a goal. So why do we, today, demand such a steep price to be an American? The ideal American shouldn’t have to sacrifice their native language, culture, or heritage to become a part of society. Culture and language are elements of a unique identity, and they should be encouraged in today’s society: diversity is what makes America so unique. Spanish language, Japanese traditions, Chinese manners, and other aspects of foreign societies aren’t ‘un-American’; the want to sleep all

    Read More

  • LA Riots -- The Korean American Perspective vs. the African American Perspective

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    -Many Korean immigrants came to America because they wanted to give their children a better future and because of the American Dream. They worked hard to achieve that dream; working hard everyday, and saving up every penny (Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women's Perspectives, 1993). As immigrants, they were only able to get very low paying jobs and made very little. The only property they could afford to buy was in South Central Los Angeles. The property there was cheap because many people/companies didn't want to run a business there because it was in such a bad neighborhood (Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women's Perspectives, 1993). The Korean immigrants knew how to run a successful business. They worked long and hard hours, and had family members work instead of employing people from the neighborhood. This way, they were able to cut labor costs and were able to survive and...

    Read More

  • Of The Poem 'To The Man Who Shouted' By Franny Choi

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poetry is a form of literature that some view as obsolete in the modern world, but in the poem “To the Man Who Shouted ‘I Like Pork Fried Rice’ at Me on the Street”, Franny Choi dispels that belief. She uses poetry as a medium to convey her own personal experience with the stereotyping and fetishization of Asian American women, which is an issue that millions of Asian American women still face today. When considering Choi’s background as a Korean American woman and how that has shaped her identity and philosophy, we see how being an Asian American woman is intrinsically a core part of her work, which is why much of her work is about breaking the stereotypes that come with this identity.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Theme Of The Story 'Bul-Go'

    449 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ji-Suk grew up as both an American and a Korean. I was very important for Ji-Suk’s mom to teach her daughter her Korean heritage but also wanted her to live up to American standards. This helps develop the theme of striking a balance. This is recognized in the text when the narrator states “Even though she'd made Ji-Suk take Korean lessons every Saturday morning followed by violin lessons in the afternoon—and cooked kimchi and other Korean delicacies with her at least once a week—Ji-Suk's mother had wanted her to succeed by American standards.”

    Read More

  • Being Proud Of Being Korean-American

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I turned to look, I was excitedly greeted by my relatives and their big signs that read: “Welcome to Korea!” What happened next was a flash of tears, hugs, and kisses. I had seen my parents emotional before, but not to this extent. This made me wonder how much my mother truly missed her family when she parted from them to move to America. It also made me consider how her relationship with her family strengthened her identity as an Asian-American.

    Read More

  • Themes of Language and Racial Identity in Native Speaker, By Chang-Rae Lee

    2640 Words  | 6 Pages

    Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...

    Read More

  • The Emergence of Yellow Power

    2165 Words  | 5 Pages

    Described by journalist Amy Uyematsu as “victims--with less visible scars--of the white institutionalized racism”, Asian Americans faced similar, if not more brutal xenophobia and racism than African Americans especially given the circumstances and historical context. The post-WWII era unified blacks and whites against a common enemy and created an assimilated group that triggered the path towards racial equality--or in other words: the makings of a more equal and integrated society for blacks and whites. However, with post WWII Japanese resentment, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War, impressions of Asian Americans in the United States declined as those for African Americans rose. Moreover, the voice of Asian Americans often went unheard as they assimilated into a “White democracy”. As a result, the emergence of the “Yellow Power” movement began as a direct influence from...

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan is a personal look into how language, and the dialects of that language, can affect a person 's life. It 's a look into how the people inside the cultural circles who use dialect derivatives of a major language are treated by people who exist outside of those cultural circles. It shows us how society treats a person using a "broken" or "limited" dialect, and how society 's treatment of these people can also affect the children who grow up using these "broken" dialects. Tan wrote this article try and convey to the reader that English is a colorful, and ever-changing language that has many dialects. Tan makes the point, several times throughout the article, that society judges you based on the type of English that you use. Throughout the article, Tan uses both her mother, herself and society 's treatment of them as evidence to support her idea. The purpose of pointing this out is to show the reader that the language a person uses, whether it be taught to them in school or by a parent at home, isn 't indicative of a person 's intelligence or value, and they shouldn 't be judged as less for using it.

    Read More

  • An Interview With a Korean-American on Cultural Differences

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this interview Ben Bagley asks Theresa Han about the difference between Korean and American culture. Theresa is a teenager who recently moved to the United States so she has an excellent perspective for understanding the differences and similarities between these countries.

    Read More

More about Jane Yoo's Native Speaker Analysis

Open Document