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1 Between Places : America n Literature an d Languag e i n the Pacifi c Ri m Karen Chow and Noelle Brada-Williams The increasin g presenc e o f American Studie s i n Asi a ca n b e witnessed b y th e establishmen t o f center s suc h a s th e American Studie s Researc h Centr e i n Hyderabad , India , th e America n Studies Cente r a t th e Universit y o f Hon g Kong , an d th e Hon g Kong America Cente r a t th e Chines e Universit y o f Hon g Kong . I n 1995 , thre e scholars affiHated wit h th e American Studie s Research Center , Amritjit Singh , Max J . Skidmore , an d Isaa c Sequeira , produce d a n edite d volum e entitle d American Studies Today: An Introduction to Methods and Perspectives (Creative Books, New Delhi , India). In th e introduction , title d 'Of American Studie s Today: At Hom e an d Abroad', Sing h explain s tha t th e volum e cam e ou t o f the 'stron g nee d t o forg e a mutuaUy stimulatin g aUianc e amon g competin g approaches t o America n Studies , bot h i n th e U.S . an d abroad ' (3) . It s coUection o f essay s identifie s parameter s o f th e fiel d o f American Studies , largely as shaped through interdiscipHnar y an d international scholar s focusin g on American cultura l production s an d interpretation s in th e Unite d States . In th e twenty-firs t century , th e increasin g interes t i n America n Studie s i n Asian coUege s and universities turn s to lookin g a t the presence an d influenc e of American cultur e i n Asia a s weU. 1 Our volum e aim s t o ad d thes e consideration s t o intellectua l an d pedagogical dialogue s abou t th e internationa l developmen t o f America n literary studie s i n th e Pacifi c Pdm.W e see k specificaU y t o spea k t o scholar s interested i n th e transformations , processes an d tension s o f seeing, teaching, 2 Karen Chow and Noelle Brada- Williams and studying America's multiethnic Hteratur e an d culture o n both the wester n and easter n side s o f th e Pacifi c Rim . The scene s o f reading , teaching , an d interpreting American literatur e includ e location s in Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia,ThaUand, Myanma r (Burma) , Hong Kong,Taiwan , an d the US . The scop e o f thi s volum e overlap s wit h portion s o f — bu t doe s not encompas s —Asia . Our title,'Crossin g Oceans' , is largely metaphorical , reflective o f th e cultura l an d linguisti c leap s an d crossing s mad e b y texts , authors, student s an d teacher s i n producin g an d interpretin g America n narratives. A significan t par t o f the inteUectua l expansio n o f American Studie s i n the Pacifi c Ri m i s takin g plac e i n th e fiel d o f literature , a s coUege s an d universities i n th e regio n hav e lon g establishe d Englis h an d America n literature departments . As in th e US , theoretical approache s suc h a s cultura l studies an d feminis t methodologie s hav e influence d literar y researc h an d pedagogy i n recen t years . As ou r contributor s indicate , interes t i n voice s from an d abou t marginalize d positionalitie s o f gender , ethnicity , an d rac e are reflectiv e o f th e profoun d economi c an d socia l shift s tha t hav e take n place i n Nort h America, Asia, and th e Pacifi c Ri m i n th e twentiet h century . Although th e America n Studie s Researc h Centr e i n Hyderaba d ha s existed fo r ove r 3 5 years, the foundin g o...

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