Introduction

Abstract

The introduction to Asian American Literature in Transition, 1965-1996: Volume Three traces the formation of the Asian American literary canon as it was taking shape during the years the volume considers. In doing so, it attends to the rise of Asian American studies as a distinct interdiscipline, tracking the historical, political, and aesthetic debates that helped to define the field. In addition, the introduction gives the larger context for the four sections that organize the volume (“Immigration, Migration, and Movement, " “Politics, Art, and Activism, " “Institutionalization and Canon Formation, " and “Diaspora and the Transnational Turn”), and provides summaries of the individual chapters.