Abstract
Asian-American masculinity has been a critical topic in cross-cultural studies as well as gender studies. Previous studies have relied on the historical context to examine the Asian-American masculinities in contemporary literature. However, not much attention has been given to the transformation of queering Asian masculinity in contemporary literature. By analysing David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly (1988) and Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), this research examines the movement of queering Asian masculinity in contemporary texts between the twentieth century and the twenty-first century. Drawing on Judith Butler’s ideas on the performance of gender and Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity, this research will focus on how do Hwang and Vuong present the relationship between queer body and gender in the context of Asian-American masculinity? To what extent do both authors question traditional gender assumptions and renegotiate the value of masculinity? How does the topic of Asian-American masculinity shift in David Henry Hwang’s M Butterfly and Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous? By taking a close look at the descriptions of the protagonists’ bodies and their performativity in both texts, this research considers how Hwang starts to reveal the Asian-American body covertly, whilst Vuong queers the Asian-American body in a more overt way to embrace the possibilities of hybrid Asian gender identities in contemporary Asian American contexts.
Author Information
Sze Yan Gladys Lam, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Paper Information
Conference: IICAH2024
Stream: Literature/Literary Studies
This paper is part of the IICAH2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Lam S. (2024) Queering Asian-American Masculinities in David Henry Hwang’s “M. Butterfly” and Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” ISSN: 2432-4604 – The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2024 Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2024.23
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2024.23
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