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영어

Susan Choi’s second novel, American Woman suggests a realistic plan for an ideal community built on a mutual understanding between the dominant American society and Asian American society. Jenny, who is Japanese American, experiences solidarity with three terrorists and a sisterhood with Pauline. However, all ends in disappointment once she realizes her ethnicity prevents her from being a full member of the dominant American world. Rather than being disheartened, Jenny accepts this unpleasant truth affirmatively and starts to write her stories to take action in changing American society’s views on Asian Americans. Jenny undertakes two tasks towards the creation of her ideal community. First, she works on crossing the border between dominant American society and Asian American society. Although she realizes the discriminative perspective of American society towards Asian Americans, she attempts to expand the borders of her understanding that exist between the two societies. Second, she tries to make American society understand Asian Americans. She realizes the two societies have little knowledge of the social and cultural differences of one another, so through her and her father’s stories, she tries to help the readers understand Asian American society. Through these two tasks, Jenny dreams of “one nation” which will accept the differences of both.