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Teaching "Representation s o f Asians i n th e America n Publi c Imagination': Th e Problem s o f Representation a s a Problemati c Ryan Bishop No mor e than philosophy or science, Hterature is not an institution amon g others; it is at once institution an d counter-institution, placed at a distance from th e institution , at the angl e tha t th e institutio n make s with itsel f in order t o take a distance fromitself by itself. And if literature maintain s som e sort of privilege .. . i t is in part by reason of what it thematizes abou t th e event o f writing, and in part because o f what, in its political history, links literature to that principle authorizatio n t o "say everything" whereby it is related in such a unique fashion to what is caUed truth, fiction, simulacrum, science, philosophy, law, right, democracy. — Jacques Derrid a T: his chapte r bega n a s a n exploratio n o f teachin g America n Hterature and cultur e in Asia — bot h great , swaying categorie s that fa U unde r an y extende d scrutiny . Nevertheless, thi s wa s m y brief , a s i t were. Therefore, the topoi of pedagogy (teaching) , content (America n Hteratur e and culture ) an d contex t (i n Asia) wer e explicitl y in play. My initia l approac h emphasized contex t becaus e I wishe d t o provid e a comparativ e analysi s o f teaching a cours e abou t representation s o f Asians i n th e America n publi c imagination i n tw o differen t settings : in a U S (specificaUy , a smaU , upscal e liberal art s coUeg e i n Texas ) an d i n a n Asian contex t (a t a large , research oriented publi c university) . Although I addres s thi s issue , it wi U b e fro m a 110 Ryan Bishop somewhat obliqu e angle . And althoug h a typology o f pedagogy, content an d context sound s nea t an d tidy , the integrit y o f these categories , too, does no t hold u p we U when on e look s a t it closely . That is , issues o f pedagogy almos t always entai l contextua l an d conten t issues . So, I hav e decide d t o limi t th e work o f thi s chapte r t o on e particula r nexu s o f concern s tha t aUows me t o consider a U three categorie s simultaneously : that is , the problem s associate d with gettin g student s t o understan d representatio n as a problematic, in th e standard Foucauldia n sens e o f th e term . The rang e o f representation s o f Asian s i n th e America n publi c imagination reveal s immediatel y th e problemati c o f representation . Fro m railroad coolie s t o cunnin g corporat e executives , from enemy-in-our-mids t to mode l minorit y community , from evi l seductres s t o eroticis m incarnate , and fro m tyrannica l despo t t o las t hop e i n th e Col d War 'domino ' theory , Asians an d th e nation s the y com e fro m hav e figure d prominentl y i n American popula r culture , national politics , and internationa l policy . As th e 1997 Senat e committe e hearing s o n campaig n financin g attest , no t t o mention th e neo-Col d Wa r tribulation s afflicte d o n Chinese-America n nuclear scientis t D r Wen H o Lee , Asian-Americans remai n unde r suspicio n of havin g loyaltie s tha t resid e wit h thei r 'home ' nation s an d culture s i n a way fe w othe r ethni c group s do . The cours e 'Representation s o f Asians i n the American PubH c Imagination ' examines th e historical experience o f Asian Americans an d th e many , ofte n contradictory , role s the y (an d b y extensio n Asians) hav e playe d i n th e collectiv e nationa l psych...

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