Page numbers in italics indicate illustrations; page numbers in bold indicate major discussion.
actor/character relationship: and alienation effect, 9, 135; convergence and disjuncture in Kimchee and Chitlins, 146–49; convergence and disjuncture in Twilight, 163–67; and role-doubling in Tea, 109–12; and theatrical performance, 8, 9–10
affirmative action: and Asian Americans, 214–15; and Ching Chong Chinaman, 214–15, 218
Ah Sin (Bret Harte and Mark Twain), 39, 43–44
Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers (Chan et al., eds.): compared with “Yellow Fever,” 234; and racialized conceptions of manhood, 194–95
alienation effect, 9, 14, 54, 135, 149
American Dreams (Houston), 102–3
Anderson, Benedict, 79
The Arrival (Shaun Tan), 15
Asa Ga Kimashita (Houston): realist style, 102; summary, 102–3; use of the mundane in, 102–3
Asian American identity: complexity of concept, 75–76; and late twentieth-century social movements, 74–75
Asian Americans: and 2012 Pew Center report, 178, 227–28; and affirmative action, 214–15, 272n66; Internet use, 243; and model minority stereotype, 3, 10, 12–13, 98, 173–74, 228; and online media productions, 231–32; and racialized conceptions of manhood, 194–95, 233–34; success associated with daily practices, 177–78
assimilation: as focus of sociological research, 35–37; as racialized, 187, 189, 215; racism downplayed in, 71–73; and resettlement policies, 73–74, 79, 81–82; as response to racism, 81–82, 83. See also racialization/assimilation dynamics
Association for Asian American Studies, response to Pew Center report (2012), 228
audience: and alienation effect, 135; participatory relationship in Tea, 117–18
audience perception: vs. actor’s intention, 2; and Chinese immigrant performance of the mundane, 32–34; conditioned by everyday experiences, 68–70, 163–69; and racial stereotyping in Twilight performances, 163–65; and role-doubling in Kimchee and Chitlins, 151; shaped by racial identifications, 37–38; and theatrical performance, 2, 7–8, 21–22; The Yellow Jacket and Our Town compared, 60, 64–65
Aunt Emily (character in Itsuka): efforts to create community, 85–86; on Japanese Canadian self-erasure, 83–84; and redress movement, 92. See also Itsuka
Austin, J. L., 107
Badiou, Alain, 21
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Chua): blurring of model minority and yellow peril, 178–79; convergence of stereotypes in, 178–79; criticism of, 173–75, 177–79; emphasis on “Chinese” parenting in, 177–78, 242; and model minority’s “others,” 174–76, 179–80; and model minority stereotype, 173–78
Baumann, Gerd, 78
Benrimo, J. Harry: efforts to establish The Yellow Jacket as American drama, 50, 56–58. See also The Yellow Jacket
Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 169
Better Luck Tomorrow (Lin), 182–206; American suburbia as setting, 185, 197; blurring of self and “other” in, 195–96, 200, 202–3; body/behavior disjuncture in, 190–91; cinematic techniques, 186–87, 189, 202, 203, 204; compared with “Yellow Fever,” 237–38; embodiment of stereotypes in, 183–84, 189–90, 194–98, 197; introductory scenes, 184–86; and model minority’s “others,” 18, 176, 180–82, 191–94, 193, 200–204; and racial identifications, 198–99; racialization/assimilation dynamics in, 183–84, 186–87, 200–202, 204–6; Sundance Film Festival controversy over, 182–83. See also model minority stereotype
Bird, Henry (Justice), 91
Bird Commission, 91
“Black-Korean conflict”: and behavioral training programs, 12, 131; characterization as “culture clash,” 129–32, 134; and concept of the habitus, 133–35; and differing perceptions of habitual behaviors, 12, 17–18, 129–31, 134; historical background, 126–28, 132, 134–35; socioeconomic conditions obscured in, 124, 130–32, 266n20. See also Kimchee and Chitlins; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
Bonacich, Edna, 128
Boston Globe, on “Black-Korean conflict,” 129–30
Bourdieu, Pierre, 5–6, 13, 15, 133, 135, 137, 169
Brecht, Bertolt: and alienation effect, 9, 14, 54, 135, 149; and Anna Deavere Smith’s approach to performance, 157–58; concept of gestus, 157; critical potential of theatrical performance, 135, 136–37, 157–58
Brewer, Mary, on Our Town, 67, 68
Brooklyn boycott. See “Black-Korean conflict”
Bulosan, Carlos, “The Story of a Letter,” 20
Bunge, Nancy, on Our Town, 61, 63, 66
Butler, Judith, 5, 13, 14, 156, 188, 251n3, 253n28
But Still, Like Air, I’ll Rise (Houston, ed.), 75
Canadian government: Japanese Canadian internment and resettlement policy, 73–74, 80–82, 98; and Japanese Canadian redress movement, 91–92, 94, 98, 262n41. See also Itsuka
Cardullo, Bert, on Our Town, 66
Carlson, Marvin, 111
Chaplin, Charlie, and his “Tramp-figure,” 14–15
The Chickencoop Chinaman (Frank Chin), 213
Chin, Frank: The Chickencoop Chinaman, 213; and racial identification, 197–98
Chin, Vincent: and Better Luck Tomorrow, 204; and racial identifications, 199
Chinatown theaters, 41–42
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), 26, 28, 32, 41–42
Chinese immigration restrictions: and American representations of Chinese, 41–42, 55–56, 254n7; and habitual behaviors, 26, 27–29, 31–34, 38, 255n25; historical background, 11, 28; and perceptions of enforcement agents, 32–34
Chinese opera: and American audiences, 42–43; changes in, 40–41; in Chinatown theaters, 41, 42; and Our Town, 60, 61; and The Yellow Jacket, 39–42, 46
Chinese railroad workers, 213
Ching Chong Chinaman (Lauren Yee), 207–29; analysis of conclusion, 225–27; blurring of identities in, 210–12, 217, 220–21, 225–27; compared with Better Luck Tomorrow, 207, 215, 219, 221–22; concept of invisible labor in, 211–13, 220; Desdemona’s appropriation of hardship narratives, 214, 215–19; identity defined by the mundane in, 210, 219, 224; and the model minority’s “others,” 18, 176, 180–82, 220–22; racialization/assimilation dynamics in, 221–22; role-doubling in, 223–24; Upton’s monologue on Chinese laborers, 212–13; Wong family’s investment in middle-class identity, 207–9. See also model minority stereotype
Chua, Amy. See Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
The Coffin Tree (Law-Yone), 20
Comaroff, Jean, and John Comaroff, 79
community: evoked by the mundane in Our Town, 25, 60, 64–65; Japanese war brides ambivalence towards, 104–5; performance of through ritualized mundane in Itsuka, 17, 79–80, 85–90, 93–97, 119; performance of, through ritualized mundane, in Tea, 17, 76, 79–80, 103–4, 107, 112–14, 116–18, 119
Cooper, Allen (interviewee in Twilight performances), 123–24, 167
Creef, Elena Tajima, 101
Cromer, David, Our Town production, 64, 68
cross-racial performance: developments in, 136; mediation of conflict through reenactments of the mundane, 18, 126, 136–37, 153, 170–71; and racial stereotyping, 165; and role-doubling, 252n24; in The Yellow Jacket, 17, 39–40, 43, 48–50, 60. See also performance
The Dance and the Railroad (Hwang), 213
Dargis, Manohla, on Better Luck Tomorrow, 198
Denny, Reginald: as interviewee in Twilight performances, 167; and Los Angeles riots, 124, 127
“Draw My Life” videos, 241–42
Du Bois, W. E. B., 7
Duke, Charles (interviewee in Twilight), 160–61
Durkheim, Émile, and rituals, 78
Ebert, Roger, on Better Luck Tomorrow, 182–83
Ellison, Ralph, 96–97
Eng, David, 238
Felski, Rita, 87
Fires in the Mirror (Smith), 154, 155, 164, 169
Fischer-Lichte, Erika, on The Yellow Jacket, 45, 52
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 214–15
Garcetti, Gil (interviewee in Twilight), 160–61
Goellnicht, Donald, 75
Goffman, Erving, 7
Green, E. M., on Chinese theater, 42
Grimes, Ronald L., 79, 87, 115–16
Gyory, Andrew, 28
habitual behaviors: and Asian American Internet videos, 18–19, 231–32; and audience perception, 68–70, 163–69; and Chinese immigration restrictions, 11, 26–29, 32–34, 38; and concept of the mundane, 3–4; differing perceptions of in “Black-Korean conflict,” 12, 17–18, 129–32, 134; impact of media depictions of, 124–25, 129–32; modification of, 5, 11–12; and notion of cultural differences, 13, 36–37, 129–31; racialization of, 3–5, 27–29, 37–38; transformation by theatrical performance, 3; viewed as both fixed and transmittable, 13, 27–28, 29. See also the mundane; the ritualized mundane
the habitus: and the “Black-Korean conflict,” 133–35; and Brechtian theories of performance, 134–35, 136–37, 157–58; and Kimchee and Chitlins, 145–46; Pierre Bourdieu on, 5–6, 13, 15, 133, 169, 267n26; and theatrical performance, 6–7; and Twilight, 154–55, 157–58, 162–67
Haedicke, Susan, on Tea, 120
Hamilton, Clayton: criticism of American drama, 51; praise for The Yellow Jacket, 52
Han, Young-Soon (interviewee in Twilight performances), 165–66
Harbeck, James, on The Yellow Jacket, 39
Hazelton, George C., Jr. : and Chinese aspects of The Yellow Jacket, 57. See also The Yellow Jacket
Hermanowicz, Joseph C., 78–79
Higa, Ryan (Nigahiga): “Draw My Life” video, 242; “Expectations vs. Reality,” 240; success of, 231–32, 239; treatment of race, 241–42; video log features, 239, 240–41
Highmore, Ben, 123
Horizons Theatre (Washington, DC), 120
Houston, Velina Hasu: and complexity of Asian American identity, 75–76; on Miss Saigon casting, 76; mother’s experiences as inspiration, 102. See also Tea
Hwang, David Henry, The Dance and the Railroad, 213
identity: defined by habitual behaviors in Ching Chong Chinaman, 210, 219, 224; and habitual behaviors in racialization/assimilation dynamics, 5, 11–12, 37, 181, 190–91; as intrinsic vs. constructed, 34; the mundane as mediator between conceptions of, 34, 122, 249–50; supposed disjuncture with behavior in Better Luck Tomorrow, 190–91
imitation vs. mimesis, 6, 7, 253n28
Immigration Act (1924), 28
Internet videos, Asian American: emphasis on Asian Americans’ ordinariness, 233, 240; features of, 232–33; focus on heterosexual relationships, 238, 240; as medium for Asian American performers and artists, 231–32; the mundane in, 231–33, 239–40; treatment of race, 242–43
Itsuka (Kogawa), 80–97; ambivalence of Sunday afternoon tea in, 87; as best seller, 114; critical response to, 118–19, 264n82, 265n84; as critique of Canadian resettlement policy, 85, 260n11; documentary style, 80, 91, 114–16, 118–19, 138, 265n84; historical context of, 73–74, 80–82, 91–92; and the Japanese Canadian redress movement, 80, 92–97; and Japanese Canadians’ self-erasure, 83–84; metaphor of reanimated plant, 94–95; performing community through ritualized mundane in, 17, 79–80, 85–90, 93–97, 119; social fracturing by government policies in, 82–83. See also Aunt Emily (character); Naomi Nakane (character); Nikki Kagame (character); Obasan (character)
Japanese Americans: designated “model minority,” 98; and government internment and resettlement policies, 11, 81; reaction to Japanese war brides, 99–100; redress movement, 92, 98
Japanese Canadians: and government internment and resettlement policies, 73–74, 80–82, 98; redress movement, 91–92, 94; redress movement in Itsuka, 80, 92–97
Japanese “war brides”: difference accentuated by enactment of “American” mundane, 100–101; “disappearance” praised, 71–73, 99–100; international meetings of, 121; Japanese Americans’ reaction to, 99–100; and model minority stereotype, 12, 99; and Red Cross bride schools, 101, 112, 263n58; William Worden on, 71–73, 72, 99–101. See also Tea
Jew, Kimberly, 109
Kashima, Tetsuden, 98
Kasinitz, Philip, 128
Kimchee and Chitlins (Elizabeth Wong), 137–53; actor/character convergence and disjuncture in, 146–49; on characterizations of Black-Korean “culture clash,” 125–26, 136, 142; compared with Twilight, 168, 170–71; as critique of news, 138–41, 149–50; limitations of behavioral training exposed in, 142–43; and mediation of conflict through cross-racial performances of the mundane, 18, 125–26, 136–37, 153, 170–71; nonrealistic stage conventions, 138, 140–41, 161; performance history, 137; racial difference materialized through reenactments, 146–47; racial stereotypes juxtaposed with sympathetic impersonations in, 145; role-doubling in, 138, 150–53; sociohistorical context provided by Choruses, 144–45. See also “Black-Korean conflict”
Kim, Daniel Y., 197–98
King, Mackenzie, 73–74
Kingston, Maxine Hong: Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, 1–3, 22–23; The Woman Warrior, 116, 181
Kogawa, Joy: and Canadian redress movement, 261n37; Obasan, 75, 80, 118. See also Itsuka
Kondo, Dorinne, on Twilight, 162, 163
Korean Americans, and model minority stereotype, 12
“Korean-Black conflict.” See “Black-Korean conflict”
Koshy, Susan, 174
Kumamoto, Sandra, on Twilight, 163, 165
Kuner, M. C., on Our Town, 64
Lark, Regina, 121
Law-Yone, Wendy, The Coffin Tree, 20
Lee, Josephine: on Ching Chong Chinaman, 211, 220; on doubles, 180; on racialization, 204; on stereotypes, 195
Lee, Robert G., 42
Let Me Down Easy (Smith), 169
Lifton, Paul, 62
Light, Ivan, 128
liminality: and ritual, 104, 107–9, 113–14, 116–18, 122; of ritual in Tea, 104, 109–12; in theatrical performance, 111–12, 117–18
Lin, Justin, on Better Luck Tomorrow, 183–84
Los Angeles riots: differing perceptions of, 167–69; historical background, 127–28; media depictions, 124–25;
Lowry, Ira, 128
Lye, Colleen, 17
Lyons, Charles, and James Lyons, on Anna Deavere Smith, 156–57, 158, 161
Mackerras, Colin, 40–41
Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles), 125, 154
McKenzie, Jon, 108–9
McKeown, Adam, 32
Michele, Mary di, on Itsuka, 118–19
Midgette, Anne, on Tea, 115
mimesis vs. imitation, 6, 7, 253n28
Miss Saigon: Velina Hasu Houston on casting of, 76; and yellowface performance, 76, 246
model minority’s “others”: in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, 174–76, 179–80; in Better Luck Tomorrow, 18, 176, 180–82, 191–94, 193, 200–204; and body/behavior disjuncture, 181, 190–91; in Ching Chong Chinaman, 18, 176, 180–82, 220–22; and convergence of stereotypes, 178–79; economic stratifications highlighted by, 181–82; as trope in Asian American cultural productions, 180–82
model minority stereotype: and Asian Americans, 3, 10, 11–13, 98, 173–74; and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, 173–78; and civil rights issues, 98, 214–15, 228; convergence with yellow peril stereotype, 178–79; and doubling as “others,” 18, 174–76, 179–80, 180–82, 191–94, 193, 200–204, 220–22; and economic anxieties, 178–79; efficacy of, 174; efforts to repudiate, 173–74, 228; and racialization of assimilation, 188–89; vs. “yellow peril,” 3, 10
Modleski, Tania, on Twilight, 155, 164
Morgan, Harriet, 78–79
Morrison, Peter, 128
Mulroney, Brian, 91
the mundane: articulation of socioeconomic conditions through, 135, 136–37, 157–58; and Asian American racial formation, 3–5, 10–13; concept of, 3–4; and concept of the racial mundane, 3–10; defamiliarizing of, 14–15; in Internet video performances, 231–33; as mediator between conceptions of identity, 34, 122, 249–50; performance of by Chinese immigrant applicants, 32–34; vs. rituals, 78–79; and surrealism, 123. See also habitual behaviors; the ritualized mundane
Nakamura, Lisa, 243
Naomi Nakane (character in Itsuka): account of internment and dispersal, 82–83; disavowal of community, 83; homesickness of, 84–85; on Obasan’s routines, 86–90; transformation of, 74, 80, 92–97, 262n40. See also Itsuka
National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC), 91–92, 94, 261n37
New York Times: on Asian American YouTube stars, 231; “Asians Are Going to the Head of the Class,” 177, 178; “City Children Find ‘Our Town’ Alien,” 68–70; on Tea, 115; on The Yellow Jacket, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56–57
Ngai, Sianne, 246
Nikkei International Marriage Society, 121
Nikki Kagame (character in Itsuka): parallel with George Imai, 94; rejection of redress plan, 95. See also Itsuka
Ninh, erin Khuê, 174
nonrealistic theatrical conventions: in Kimchee and Chitlins, 138, 140–41, 161; in Our Town, 17, 27, 60, 62–63, 65; in The Yellow Jacket, 17, 27, 39, 52, 60
Obama, Barack, 20
Obasan (character in Itsuka): compared with Stephen (character in Itsuka), 90; creation of community through ritualized mundane, 89–90; significance of recycling, 87–89; Sunday afternoon tea routine, 86–87, 89. See also Itsuka
Obasan (novel by Kogawa): critical response to, 75, 80, 118; and the Japanese Canadian redress movement, 80
Okihiro, Gary, 179
Omi, Michael, 121–22
On the Road: A Search for American Character (Smith), 154, 155
Our Town (Wilder), 59–70; audience affiliation assumed in, 25, 60, 64–65; conflicting interpretations of, 61, 67–68; habitual behavior linked with social boundaries in, 25–27, 65–66, 69; and limits to audience affiliation, 68–70; multiple identifications invited by, 17; the mundane as both trivial and significant in, 61–64, 66–67; responses of Harlem cast to, 68–70; use of nonrealistic theatrical conventions, 17, 27, 60, 62–63, 65. See also Wilder, Thornton
Palumbo-Liu, David: on assimilation, 185; critique of Robert E. Park, 37; on “model minority discourse,” 205; on the universal, 68
Pan Asian Repertory, 115
Park, Kyeyoung, 130
Park, Robert E., 4, 35–37, 186
Park, Walter (interviewee in Twilight), 159–60
performance: Anna Deavere Smith’s “other-based” approach to, 156–58, 161–67, 169–70; and audience perception, 2, 7–8, 21–22; habitual behaviors transformed by, 3; and the habitus, 6–8, 135, 136–37, 157–58; immigrant replication of habitual behaviors as, 32–34; and liminality, 104, 109–12, 117–18; perception vs. intention in, 2; and the racial mundane, 6–10, 21. See also cross-racial performance; the ritualized mundane
performativity: and Judith Butler, 5, 13, 14, 156, 188, 251n3, 253n28; vs. performance, 7, 251n3, 252n18, 267n26
Persky, Stan, on Obasan vs. Itsuka, 118
Pew Center: on Asian American Internet use, 243; “The Rise of Asian Americans” (Pew Center 2012), 178, 227–28
Phan, Michelle: “Draw My Life” video, 242, 244; features of tutorials, 239; re-creation of Mulan (Disney character), 246–50, 247; success of, 231–32, 239
Phelan, Peggy, 140, 163, 256n49
The Politics of Life (Houston, ed.), 74
Property Man (character in The Yellow Jacket), 47; compared with Ah Sin (Ah Sin character), 43–44; compared with Stage Manager (Our Town character), 60; as mediator between audience perspectives, 43, 46, 48–49, 50, 58–59; and Michelle Phan’s Mulan video, 250; and skills required for part, 46–48. See also The Yellow Jacket
Racial Formation in the United States (Omi and Winant), 121
racialization: as theatricalization of the mundane, 8–9; and yellowface performance, 43, 76, 246
racialization/assimilation dynamics: in Better Luck Tomorrow, 183–84, 186–89, 200–202, 204–6; in Ching Chong Chinaman, 221–22; and body/behavior disjuncture, 5, 11–12, 37, 181, 190–91; and mediation by the ritualized mundane, 79–80, 83, 86
the racial mundane, definition of, 3–10
racial stereotyping: and Ah Sin’s performance of the mundane, 44; and audience perception in Twilight performances, 163–67; and cross-racial performances, 165; and habitual behaviors, 10; as vehicle for comedic expression, 242–43
racism, and pressure to assimilate, 71–74, 81–82, 83, 99–100
realism: in American Dreams, 102–3; in Asa Ga Kimashita, 102–3; critical attacks on, 51–52; and “illusionistic” stage sets, 51
Reinhardt, Max: interest in Asian theater, 54; and The Yellow Jacket, 53, 56
resettlement policies: assimilation equated with disappearance in, 73–74, 79, 81–82, 83; historical overview, 11–12, 80–81; U.S. and Canadian compared, 81
Richards, Rhonda, 129
“Richard Wright’s Blues” (Ellison), 96–97
“Rick’s Man Tutorials,” 231
ritual: characteristics of, 77–78; and liminality, 104, 107–9; as process, 107–9; and social relations, 77–78; vs. the mundane, 78–79
ritualization: concept of, 78–79; and intentionality, 89–90, 93–95; and transformation in Tea, 108, 113–14, 116–18, 122
the ritualized mundane: characteristics of, 77, 86; and liminality in Tea, 104, 109–12, 117–18; limitations of representation of, 115–16, 118–19; as mediating between racialization and assimilation, 79–80, 83, 86; performance of community through, 17, 76, 79–80, 85–90, 93–97, 103–4, 107, 112–14, 116–19; as response to effects of dispersal, 86.
role-doubling: and cross-racial performance, 252n24; as imaginary journalistic device in Kimchee and Chitlins, 138, 150–53; and liminality in Tea, 109–12, 117
Salas, Rudy (interviewee in Twilight), 158–59
The Salvage (Dorothy Swaine Thomas), 98
San Francisco Board of Supervisors report (1885): on assimilation of Chinese American children, 35, 36; Chinese immigrants compared to vermin, 27, 29–30; emphasis on Chinese dietary preferences, 30–31; racial difference linked with habits in, 27–28
Saturday Evening Post: “They’re Bringing Home Japanese Wives” (Janet Wentworth Smith and William Worden), 100–101; “Where Are Those Japanese War Brides?” (Worden), 71–73, 72
Schechner, Richard, 8, 34, 117, 118, 120, 196
Shaw, Arthur, on Property Man (Yellow Jacket character), 46–48, 58
Shimakawa, Karen, 10
Shimizu, Celine Parreñas, 195
Simpson, Caroline C., 98–99
Smith, Anna Deavere: approach to performance, 155–58, 161–67, 169–70; Fires in the Mirror, 154, 155, 164, 169; Let Me Down Easy, 169; On the Road: A Search for American Character, 154, 155. See also Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
Smith, Cherise, on Twilight, 169–70
spectator. See audience
Stanislavski, Konstantin, and The Yellow Jacket, 53
Stewart, Ella, 132
“The Story of a Letter” (Bulosan), 20
Stout, Kazuko, 121
Sundance Film Festival, controversy over Better Luck Tomorrow, 182–83
Tan, Amy, The Joy Luck Club, 217
Tan, Shaun, The Arrival, 15
Taylor, Diana, 21
Tay, Stuart, and Better Luck Tomorrow, 182, 204
Tchen, Jack, 55–56
Tea (Houston), 98–122; ambivalence towards community in, 104; critical response to, 114–15; historical context of, 74–75; liminality of ritual in, 104, 109–12; the mundane as expressing difference and commonality, 105–7, 110–13; performance history, 115; performing community through ritualized mundane in, 17, 76, 79–80, 103–4, 107, 112–14, 116–18, 119; and preproduction processes, 119–20; role doubling in, 109, 111–12, 117; summary, 104–5; temporal structure, 109–10. See also Japanese “war brides”
Thomas, Dorothy S., and voluntary dispersal program, 98
Three Plays (Wilder), preface to, 61, 63
Tolbert, Kathryn, 129–30
Toronto Star, review of Itsuka, 118–19
Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (Kingston), 1–3, 22–23
Turner, Victor, and rituals, 78, 104, 107–8, 109, 114
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Smith), 154–71; absence of explicit commentary in, 161; compared with Kimchee and Chitlins, 168, 170–71; actor/character convergence and disjuncture in, 154–55, 163–67; dinner scene addition, 168–69, 170; examples of reenacted interviews, 158–61; and mediation of conflict through cross-racial performance of the mundane, 18, 126, 136–37, 170–71; performance history, 154; racial differences as reinforced by media in, 125–26, 136; speech and behaviors emulated in, 154, 156; socioeconomic conditions expressed in, 157–58; responses to, 155, 163–67; source material, 123–24, 154. See also “Black Korean conflict”
Unbroken Thread (Roberta Uno), 105
Universality, and Our Town, 61–64, 65–66
Uno, Roberta, on Tea,104, 105
USA Today, on “Black-Korean conflict,” 129
U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, 92, 94
U.S. government: Japanese American internment and resettlement policy, 11–12, 80–81, 92, 94, 98, 262n45; and Japanese “war brides,” 11–12, 99, 262n49
van Gennep, Arnold, and liminality, 108
Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago), 137
Wall Street Journal, “The New White Flight” (2005), 190
Wang, Grace: on Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, 175–79; on race in Internet videos, 241
Waters, Alice, 168
Waters, Maxine (interviewee in Twilight performances), 167
West Coast Ensemble (Los Angeles), 137
Wheatley, Christopher, on Our Town, 61
Wilder, Thornton: familiarity with Chinese and Japanese theater, 59–60; interest in significance of the mundane, 61–62; on lack of props and scenery in Our Town, 62–63. See also Our Town
Williams, Dave: on impact of Chinese exclusion acts, 41–42; on The Yellow Jacket, 46
Williams, Patricia J., 20–21
Winant, Howard, 121–22
The Woman Warrior (Kingston), 181, 216
Wong, Elizabeth. See Kimchee and Chitlins
Wong, Sau-ling, 180
Woollcott, Alexander, on The Yellow Jacket, 49, 56
Wooster Group, 67–68
Worden, William L., “Where Are Those Japanese War Brides?,” 71–73, 72, 99–101
Wu, Kevin (KevJumba): “My Dad is Asian,” 242–43; success of, 231–32, 239; treatment of race, 241, 242–43; video log features, 239, 240–41
Wong Fu Productions, 231–233, 238–239
yellowface performance: and racialization, 43, 76; suggested by Michelle Phan’s video tutorials, 246, 248, 250; as theatrical practice, 43; and The Yellow Jacket, 43, 49, 60, 65, 70, 256n59
“Yellow Fever” (Wong Fu Productions): compared with Aiiieeeee!, 234; compared with Better Luck Tomorrow, 237–38; emphasis on ordinariness of Asian American masculinity, 233–36, 237; and interracial dating, 234–35; posting of, 231; racialized conceptions of manhood satirized by, 233, 236–38; on racial stereotypes, 235–36
The Yellow Jacket (Benrimo and Hazelton, Jr.), 38–59; audience estrangement accentuated in, 45, 60, 64–65; audience response to first performances, 42–43; as “Chinese” theater, 39–42, 50, 53; compared with Our Town, 59–61, 64–65; and contemporary intercultural exchanges, 54; cross-racial identifications enabled by, 17, 39–40, 43, 46, 48–50, 60; habitual behaviors as mediating social boundaries in, 27; influence on American drama, 59; as international success, 53, 54, 56; reputation and performance history, 26–27, 38, 53–54, 59; reviews of, 49, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56; scene from, 47; transformation from “Chinese” to American drama, 50, 53, 54–58; use of nonrealistic theatrical conventions, 17, 27, 39, 52, 60; viewed as both artistic and realistic, 52–53; as yellowface performance, 43, 49, 60, 65, 70. See also Property Man (character)
yellow peril stereotype: as appealing in Better Luck Tomorrow, 194–95; convergence with model minority stereotype, 178–79; vs. “model minority,” 3, 10
Yi, Daniel, on Better Luck Tomorrow controversy, 183
YouTube: accessibility of, 243; influence of, 232; as vehicle for Asian American cultural production, 18–19, 231–32
Yu, Henry, 36