Hi everyone,

My name is Ji, I've recently begun my studies at Goldsmiths College in the
MA in Contemporary Approaches to English Studies programme.  I am thinking
of (vaguely) writing on the notion of "Autobiography" (in film & fiction) -
writing/representing the self, or how the "self" gets viewed/represented
through the writer/filmmaker's work, agency of the writer/filmmaker, how
they filter issues of ethnicity/nationality, etc.  It's all quite vague at
the moment (obviously).  

I've done some work in my undergraduate college in post-colonial literature
and theory, while being involved in advocating for Asian American studies
at the college, so I am very much interested in the connection/relevance of
post-colonial theory and the Asian Pacific diaspora.  I'm just going to
throw out some topics/issues that I think may be interesting, just some
things to think about:
- Re-writing the Asian Pacific Diaspora (poss. to examine & contest the
ways in which Asian Pacific migrants have been written into the nation's
history - or in some cases, not written at all into the nation's history)
- Considering the possibilities of forging a political activist community
(of sorts) in the Asian Pacific diaspora
- Relevance of incorporating Asian Pacific cultural studies into the
academia

I'm not sure if these ideas are relevant to Homi Bhabha et al., and some
are vague, some are more specific.  I hope to hear from everyone else and I
will try to contribute more if the inspiration comes to me!

regards,
Ji-Young Um
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--On 26 October 1999, 15:41 +0100 Kaori Tsurumoto <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> 
> Dear PACSF subscribers, 
>  
> Hi.  I'm Kaori, and I'm the'pacific-asia-cultural-studies' list owner.
> This basically means that I help you with any technical problems you
> might encounter in receiving or sending messages to
> 'pacific-asia-cultural-studies'.  I am also here to facilitate, or, in
> this case, start up cyberspace discussions.  
>  
> So, here's what I suggest: 
>  
> 1. Firstly, could I suggest that subscribers introduce themselves?  
>  
> (In my case, I'm a final year (?) PhD student at Goldsmiths College,
> Sociology Department.  I'm looking at Japanese modernisation between
> 1868-1907, using Foucault's and other recent works on western
> modernisation as comparative material to assess how Japanese
> modernisation was different from the modernising processes of the West.
> I am also interested in gender.  In fact, I first embarked on my PhD with
> the idea that I was going to be looking at the constitution of 'modern'
> Japanese masculinity.  Somewhere along the line, that theme kind of
> receded, and I've come to focus more on the constitution of Japanese
> national identity.  However, I'd very much like to return to or,
> actually, reach the point where I'm focusing on gender.  I've also been
> more or less invoved in PACSF from the beginning - at first as a
> conference participant, and then as a member of the organising
> committee.) 
>  
> 2. Secondly, I hope that most of you are aware of PACSF's three year
> history?  (I believe I wrote a short statement which you should all have
> received when you first subscribed.)  Well, PACSF is still very much
> alive and kicking.  It looks like we'll be having three mini-conferences
> this year.  Although plans are not finalised yet, it is likely that we'll
> be inviting Homi K. Bhabha, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Asada Akira as guest
> speakers.  However, there's alot that needs to be sorted out yet,
> beginning with deciding on this year's theme.  I'd like to ask all of you
> to voice any wishes or opinions as to what this year's theme should be.
> For example, the theme for 1997 was exlemplified by the conference title,
> 'Globalising Cultural Studies?'  The aim was to ask whether or not
> researchers working on Pacific-Asian issues could fruitfully engage with
> British Cultural Studies, and if so, how, and did this attest to some
> kind of globalising process?  The theme for 1998 was 'Dislocating the
> West and the Rest', and this indicates that PACSF took on board a more
> post-colonial theme and began to engage with post-colonial writings.  
>  
> I guess 'coming up with a theme' might sound a bit too abstract?  Perhaps
> it would be better if I could ask everyone to simply say what issues you
> would personally want to raise with Homi K. Bhabha, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and
> Asada Akira if you could (and you can) choose?  (For those of you who
> were involved in organising the previous PACSF conferences, perhaps you'd
> like to use this platform to reflect on what the conference(s) meant for
> you and what themes or issues arose precisely from participating - they
> can be used and incorporated in future themes that PACSF might decide to
> pursue.)  
>  
> Looking forward to hearing from you all! 
>  
>  
>  
>  
> Kaori Tsurumoto
> Sociology Department
> Goldsmiths College
> University of London
> [log in to unmask]
> [log in to unmask]






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