 | Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance Subjects: Asians in motion pictures; Asian Americans in motion pictures; Motion pictures -- United States -- History; Ahn Philip 1905–1978; From silent films to television programs, Hollywood has employed actors of various ethnicities to represent "Oriental"characters, from Caucasian stars like Loretta Young made up in yellow-face to Korean American pioneer Philip Ahn, whose more than 200 screen performances included roles as sadistic Japanese military officers in World War II movies and a wronged Chinese merchant in the TV show Bonanza . The first book-length study of Korean identities in American cinema and television, Hollywood Asian investigates the career of Ahn (1905-1978), a pioneering Asian American screen icon and son of celebrated Korean nationalist An Ch'ang-ho. In this groundbreaking scholarly study, Hye Seung Chung examines Ahn's career to suggest new theoretical paradigms for addressing cross-ethnic performance and Asian American spectatorship. Incorporating original material from a wide range of sources, including U.S. government and Hollywood screen archives, Chung's work offers a provocative and original contribution to cinema studies, cultural studies, and Asian American as well as Korean history. Hye Seung Chung is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. Her writing has appeared in Cinema Journal, Film Quarterly , and other journals as well as in anthologies such as New Korean Cinema. |
