![]() ![]() I further argue that by using humor to draw attention to the ways in which characters perpetuate or transgress perceived cultural boundaries, Who’s Irish? challenges the idea of a cultural authenticity or essence and creates a more relational, expansive, and fluid notion of cultural identity. Her sense of irony is exquisite and her sense of humor wickedly funny.This paper examines the cultural dislocation/relocation of the hyphenated space in the term “Chinese-American” by looking at humor in relation to themes of multiplicity, transition, and instability in Gish Jen’s collection of short stories, Who’s Irish? The paper situates the anthology within the larger cultural context of interpretations and representations of Chinese-American identity that compartmentalize these narratives into what critic Jeffrey Partridge terms a privatized “literary Chinatown.” I argue that Who’s Irish? de-privatizes the conventional Chinese-American narrative and instead functions within an alternate space of cultural production unique to the hybridized nature of the hyphenated identity, subverting what theorist Lisa Lowe describes as the “nativist/assimilationist” dialectic that characterizes Chinese-American literary tropes. Jen is a master of the well-placed telling detail and realistic dialogue. The reader knows their union is doomed from the start, but it is impossible to look away from this accident waiting to happen. "House, House, Home," at 75 pages more of a novella than a short story, really, follows the romantic relationship between art student Pammie and the much older art professor Sven. The story's O'Henrylike ending is a stunner. When he checks into a welfare hotel to save money while attending a minicomputer conference, Woo and the reader are forced to confront the sorry state of his life. "Birthmates" (recently selected by John Updike for his "Best American Short Stories of the Century") is a heartbreaking story about Art Woo, a 49-year-old recently divorced minicomputer salesman trapped in a dying industry. ![]() Blaming the granddaughter's wildness on her "mixed" Irish blood, the grandmother is eventually forced to accept and embrace that same culture. In the opening story, "Who's Irish?" a Chinese-American mother and daughter clash over child rearing. ![]() A Chinese-American herself, Jen's prose and descriptions are equally deft whether she is writing about her own ancestors or the forebears of others. Knopf, $22), a collection of eight short stories, Jen explores the complicated existence of those hyphenated Americans who are caught between cultures. In recent years, Gish Jen has explored the immigrant experience in the land of plenty with an accurate and knowing eye. Since the publication of "The Great Gatsby" the notion of the American Dream has become a favorite theme in this country's literature. (Click on a book title or cover to order that book from )
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