Dissertation Information for Eiichiro AzumaNAME:
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SCHOOL: ADVISORS: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: MPACT Status: Fully Complete Title: Interstitial lives: Race, community, and history among Japanese immigrants caught between Japan and the United States, 1885--1941 Abstract: This dissertation examines the dilemma, Japanese immigrants (Issei) faced as they were caught between the United States and Japan before 1941. My interpretation of this triadic interaction is predicated on the recognition of the Issei's presence in America, which influenced not only their social perception and practice but their relation to Japan. From 1885 to 1908, various ideas inspired Japanese to go to the United States, and these Issei were so diverse in terms of their class and ideology that no solidarity existed. However, by the 1910s, a unified Issei leadership, in partnership with diplomats, emerged with mechanisms that sought to turn ordinary residents into impeccable Japanese subjects and desirable members of American society. Modernist assumptions, embraced by both immigrant and state elites, were central to this effort, which aimed to counteract the anti-Japanese movement. Yet, the racism experienced by all Issei also served to bind them because of their shared experience. Their new identity not only transcended preexisting differences, but also set them apart from white Americans and the people of Japan. After the end of immigration in 1924, Issei reinterpreted their past to explain that new identity. The emergent history revolved around their struggle against racism and hope for a future personified by their children, Nisei. While it led Issei to glorify them as part of Japan's colonial expansion, that history propelled them to ponder how to prepare Nisei for an ideal future in America. During the 1930s, farm, labor, and education became the focus of Issei social alchemy, which embraced eclectic adaptation to American and Japanese ideas. The practice of sending Nisei to Japanese schools was popular in this context, but allowed Japan to exploit the youth for its nationalist agendas. The 1930s also ushered in the surge of Issei nationalism. While it mirrored Issei concern about the homeland in crisis, their state patriotism constituted their self-defensive measures against white antagonism that confused them with Japan. Their ethnic nationalism, on the other hand, manifested itself in the context of the fight against other minorities, which appeared to threaten the interests of the Japanese community. |
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