Reading Otherwise: Centering Shared Selves and Collective Knowing in Asian American Youth Adult Literature

Session Type: Working Group Roundtable

Abstract

This working group roundtable aims to explore the use of Asian concepts as lenses to analyze Asian American young adult literature (AA YAL) written by AA authors. AA YAL challenges AA stereotypes by portraying characters navigating complex hybrid identities within both the U.S. society and their ethnic communities. This session’s papers demonstrate how Kapwa, Jeong, and the concept of the proximate neighbor can serve as powerful literary lenses.
Each paper traces how these values are enacted in an award-winning chapter book by an AA author from the corresponding cultural community. This session will also foster intercultural dialogue about the groundwork for transformative pedagogy that enables students and teachers to connect with collective ways of knowing and being.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Education and Research

Chair

• Monica S. Yoo, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

Papers

• Understanding Filipino American Identities Through Kapwa - Eric Claravall, California State University - Sacramento; Elizabeth Isidro, Western Michigan University

• ‘정’ (Jeong) as a Means to Explore Character Positioning in Finding Junie Kim - Monica S. Yoo, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs; Kwangok Song, University of Kansas

• 远亲不如近邻: Identity-Seeking Journey in Maizy Chen’s Last Chance - Shuling Yang, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Session Organizer

• Kwangok Song, University of Kansas