Representations Doing Asian American Rhetoric

Asian American rhetorics, produced through cultural contact between Asian traditions and US English, also comprise a dynamic influence on the cultural conditions and practices within which they move. Though always interesting to linguists and &quote;contact language&quote; scholars, in an increasingly globalized era, these subjects are of interest to scholars in a widening range of disciplines-especially those in rhetoric and writing studies.Mao, Young, and their contributors propose that Asian American discourse should be seen as a spacious form, one that deliberately and selectively incorporates Asian foreign-ness into the English of Asian Americans. These authors offer the concept of a dynamic togetherness-in-difference as a way to theorize the contact and mutual influence. Chapters here explore a rich diversity of histories, theories, literary texts, and rhetorical practices. Collectively, they move the scholarly discussion toward a more nuanced, better balanced, critically informed representation of the forms of Asian American rhetorics and the cultural work that they do.