Here, at CanLit, we are proud of all the opportunities we’ve had to promote Asian Canadian Literature. In recognition of Asian Heritage Month, we’ve put together a post that highlights Asian-Canadian experience in Canada.
Having published many critical articles and special editions on a variety of topics that demonstrate the contributions Asian Canadians have made to Canadian culture, we know there are still many ways we need to continue to support, amplify, and up-lift their voices in the face of anti-Asian racism. We hope this post offers a resource for individuals to use to help them learn more about the context of Asian “Canadianess” in Canada and Canadian literature.
From our archives:
A snapshot of the “multiculturalism” of the 1980s, George Woodcock reviews M.G.Vassanji’s edited critical editions on South Asian identity alongside Bharati Mukherjerr’s Darkness in “Mulberry Bush.” You can download the full issue here. If you’d like to find a variety of material on Asian Canadian literature, we have a link for you! You can search “Asian Canadian” on our website to discover more.
In our special edition, “Asian Canadian Studies” (2008), we feature the forum “Asian Canadian Studies: Unfinished Projects,” which includes contributions by many well-known authors in the field, such as Chris Lee, Guy Beauregard, Iyko Day, and Roy Miki. And don’t forget the poetry: this issue showcases Asian Canadian poets.
In “Asian Canadian Critique Beyond the Nation” (2015), guest editors Christine Kim and Christopher Lee describe how the categories of South and East Asian Canadians “may be misleading, incomplete, or even complicit in histories of racism” (6). The issue challenges readers to reconsider how Canada defines minority categorization.
Finally (though, there’s much more in our archives), we’ve recently published issue #240 on “Decolonial (Re)Visions of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror” (2020). This special edition, edited by Lou Cornum and Maureen Moynagh, delves into the potential for genre fiction to resist master narratives and shift the conversation. Trust us, it’s worth the read! Purchase your digital copy on our website or hit up your local library for a subscription.
And the work continues.
From all of us here at Canadian Literature, may you have a thoughtful and thought-provoking Asian Heritage Month.