APIA Lit Definition

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Asian American Literature (APIA Lit.) shows the personal experiences, family relationships, and parental sacrifice of Asian American characters. As Karissa Chen writes in her critical excerpt, “Our current generation of APIA writers is exciting because they are able to write across a breathtaking range of topics, from those explicitly about issues of identity, immigration stories...to more universal and speculative stories of love and loss...” (3). I believe what defines APIA Lit. are the differences between the personal experiences of Asian American children and those of their parents that often lead to distant and complex family relationships, as shown in “Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu.
Ken Liu’s “Paper Menagerie” is a good example of my definition of APIA Lit. The story shows the contrast between Chinese culture and white American culture that often causes strains on the relationship between parents and their children. In the beginning, Jack’s mother makes origami animals for Jack when he wouldn't stop crying: “She breathed into them so that they shared her breath and thus moved …show more content…

“Paper Menagerie” incorporates Jack’s mother’s experiences in China. Before she dies of cancer, Jack’s mother writes Jack a letter on the paper animals. In her letter, she tells Jack, “The first memory I had was waking up to see my mother eating dirt so that she could fill her belly and leave the last bit of flour for me” (7). I believe that a significant aspect of APIA Lit. is how willing parents are to sacrifice their own lives for their children, even in difficult times. Although Jack stops talking to her, Jack’s mother still feels that Jack's existence gave her hope when she had nothing left. The personal experiences of the Asian American characters in APIA Lit. provide the characters with their own identities and

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