Chinese-American Representation in Howard Fast's The Immigrants

하워드 패스트의 『이민자들』에 나타난 중국계 미국인 재현 연구

Since the arrival of Chinese immigrants in the 1850s, many Euro-American writers tended to project their fears, contempt, desires and fantasy onto the Other race and perceived Chinese Americans in stereotypes-dangerous villains, unassimilated aliens, quiet and passive servants, sexually submissive women, or seductive prostitutes. However in the 1970s and the 1980s Euro-American novels expressed varying attitudes towards Chinese Americans. Many earlier EuroAmerican writers began portraying positive characterizations of Chinese Americans. The purpose of this study is to examine the ways one of the Euro-American writers, Howard Fast characterized Chinese Americans in The Immigrants. Part of the novel concerns a Chinese American family. Fast gave a favorable portrayal of Chinese Americans. Unlike many Euro-American novelists who dealt only with Chinese American villains and prostitutes and view Chinese Americans as the lowest class of American society, Fast, on the other hand, portrayed Chinese Americans as law-abiding and useful citizens. Thus, I will discuss how Howard Fast subverted the familiar negative characterization of Chinese Americans and placed Chinese American experiences in the context of American immigration history. Many white Americans tended to notice only the lurid and sensational aspects in the Chinese American community. They seldom regarded Chinese Americans as people with homes and families and seldom saw Chinese Americans as individuals, as human beings with feelings, pain, and joy. To counter this racist view, Fast described the family life of Chinese Americans and depicted Chinese Americans as individuals with a full range of human emotions and with strong family and cultural ties. Though Fast debunked some myths about Chinese Americans, he also reinforces other stereotypes or some stereotypical illusions about them. In conclusion, I'll demonstrate Fast's work remains an incomplete representation of Chinese Americans.