Between U.S. and Chinese Multiculturalisms: Nations, Minorities, and Fiction in the Post-Cold War Era

FAIN: FT-58113-10

Wen Jin
Columbia University (New York, NY 10027-7922)

My book offers a critical comparison of U.S. and Chinese multiculturalisms during the post-Cold War era. It presents a two-fold argument. First, it claims that, though largely seen as two unrelated or opposed systems, U.S. liberal multiculturalism and China's policy toward minority nationalities should be understood as two comparable processes of mediation between the imperative of national identity and minority demands for autonomy and equality, processes that have been brought into increasing contact since the end of the Cold War. Second, a critical comparison of the two multiculturalisms must give a central role to Chinese American and immigrant fiction, which often addresses simultaneously the histories and literary traditions of both the U.S. and China. This body of fiction provides a crucial but overlooked source of comparative insights into the ethno-racial politics of the two countries.