Abstract
In this article I examine contemporary Asian gay literature and argue that the experience of oppression is the central focus of this writing. Although this focus has helped gay Asians understand their experiences as a minority, the privileging of oppression as the primary site of gay identity also has other ramifications. In particular, it works to exclude experiences that are crucial to gay Asian identity but that are not centered around the experience of oppression. Because language not only describes but also determines and creates our reality, the centering of oppression in contemporary Asian gay literature helps to construct a reality for gay Asians in which oppression becomes the primary locus for identity politics. Consequently other kinds of experiences become, unwittingly, excluded as worthwhile areas of study in gay Asian criticism.
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Poon, M.KL. The discourse of oppression in contemporary gay Asian diasporal literature: Liberation or limitation?. Sex Cult 10, 29–58 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-006-1019-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-006-1019-z