CALL FOR PAPERS
"Asian American Screen Cultures" Darrell Hamamoto and Sandra Liu, editors
In recent film and video productions and critical commentaries about them, Asian Americans have evinced a deeply felt need to articulate visions of themselves and how they fit into the American mosaic. There is a need to create a screen presence and critical language that acknowledges and encompasses a multicultural and multiracial American reality from an Asian American perspective. Debates over the most appropriate and effective routes to achieving on- and behind-the-screen success, and the very definition of 'success,' are taking place within the context of Asian Americans' ongoing struggles to define themselves culturally, socially, and politically, even as the composition of the Asian American community continues to undergo great change and growth. A critical assessment of Asian American screen cultures will be a vital tool to familiarize readers with the present scope of discussions and to catalyze them in new and fruitful directions.
We are seeking essays for an anthology tentatively entitled "Asian American Screen Cultures." The collection will explore Asian American film and video from multiple disciplines and perspectives, including but not limited to the following areas of inquiry: theory and politics of independent Asian American films and videos; racialized identity politics and the role of independent Asian American film and video productions; representations of the intersections among race, gender, sexuality, and class; comparisons between and among the 'screen cultures' of Asian Americans and other people of color; Asian American film and video, and the Asian diaspora; the ways in which Asian Americans shape and are shaped by the economics and structure of the American film and television industries; the history of participation of Asian Americans in the mainstream film industry; Asian American auteurs and actors; and Asian Americans as audiences.
Manuscripts should be approximately twenty pages in length. While the primary audience of the anthology will be upper division undergraduates, we are seeking essays that will also be challenging for scholars. Photo reprint fees, copyright clearance, and permissions are the sole responsibility of the contributor.
Send one copy of your manuscript or proposal to each editor by October 30, 1996: Darrell Y. Hamamoto, Asian American Studies Program, University of California, Davis, 3119 Hart Hall, Davis, CA 95616. email: dyhamamoto@ucdavis.edu. fax: 916-752-9260
Sandra Liu, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 506 Barrows Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720. email: zjozjoli@uclink.berkeley.edu. fax: 510-642-6456.