Visually Dual: The Conflicted Image of Asian American Representations
Keywords:
Asian American representations, racial constructs, popular culture, visual imagery, normative identity, historical consequencesAbstract
This article analyzes the contradictory representations of Asian Americans in popular culture, focusing on their dual role as both 'enemy alien' and 'model minority.' The paper explores how these constructed identities have historically marginalized Asian Americans, preventing full participation in American society. Through a review of scholarship, the article examines the trajectory of racially constructed images of Asian Americans, demonstrating how visual culture has functioned to isolate them while maintaining normative white American identity. Key texts by Robert Lee, Krystyn R. Moon, Caroline Chung Simpson, and Henry Yu are analyzed to illustrate how these images have been reproduced and distributed. The study argues that these representations serve to explain the juxtaposition of Asian Americans against normative white American culture, highlighting the significant historical consequences of such imagery.
(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)
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