Sources from the readings

Home Is Where the Han Is: A Korean American Perspective on the Los Angeles Upheavals

This 1993 essay by Elaine H. Kim explores questions of whether or not recovery is possible for Korean Americans after the 1992 Riots, and what will become of attempts to “become American” without dying of han. Han, a Korean word, means the sorrow and anger that grows from the accumulated experiences of oppression. The condition it describes is taken quite seriously. When people die of han, it is called hwabyong, a disease of frustration and rage following misfortune. She says that the Korean Americans cannot call the trouble an “uprising” or a “riot.” To them, it is a sa-i-ku, a combination of three words used to describe uprisings in Korean history. If put into musical terms, Han would be the blues. Kim says, “What is clear is that we cannot ‘become American’ without dying of han unless we think about community in new ways.” She also states, which I find very helpful for this project, “If Korean national consciousness is ever to be such a weapon for us, we must use it to create a new kind of nationalism-in-internationalism to help us call forth a culture of survival and recovery, so that our han might be released and we might be freed to dream fiercely of different possibilities.” Because this article is written from a Korean-American Perspective, it provides insight into the life of an immigrant and how she feels about assimilating into American culture. While it may not be extremely recent, it does give a fairly modern perspective on the issue. I could quite possibly use this article for my paper.


From Different Shores: Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America

In his book, written in 1994, Ronald Takaki compiles 35 essays focused on race and ethnicity in America, past and present. The book is organized into six sections: 1) "Patterns" focuses on the racial and ethnic patterns seen in society 2) "Culture" covers the contradiction between typical American "Culture" and race and ethnicity, based on issues of identity and conflict 3) & 4) "Class" and "Gender" both focus on issues such as political economy, immigration, labor movements, class conflict, and feminism. This section seems to be the most helpful for my project. Section 5) "Public Policy" focuses on the government and policy workings for the topics covered in 3 and 4, and finally Section 6)"Prospects" ties together all of these topics by trying to dictate the future of these issues. This could also be helpful for Essay 4. Written from a scholarly perspective, both past and present, this book could be useful for my Writing 140 essay, however it may not provide a "real-life" perspective on immigration and living in the US, and could be difficult to find material worth including. Also, since it was written in 1994, the sections on public policy and section 6 could be dated and no longer relevant.