Positively No Filipinos Allowed: Building Communities and Discourse

by Antonio T. Tiongson Jr., Ricardo V. Gutierrez, Ricardo Gutierrez (Editor)

From the perspectives of ethnic studies, history, literary criticism, and legal studies, the original essays in this volume examine the ways in which the colonial history of the Philippines has shaped Filipino American identity, culture, and community formation. The contributors address the dearth of scholarship in the field as well as show how an understanding of this complex history provides a foundation for new theoretical frameworks for Filipino American studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2006

Reviews

[sdw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a seminal collection of essays from emerging scholars! If this book is any indication, some amazing tracts on Filipino American studies will soon be published. This book demonstrates the exciting directions that scholars currently are pursuing in studies of U.S. imperialism and Filipino Studies. There were several excellent interviews I really including with Oscar V. Campomanes. The articles really run the gamut from applications of critical race theory to imperialism to discussions of the gentrification of Little Manila in Los Angeles. An essay by Dean Itsuju Saranillio theorizes Filipino Americans as “settlers” in Hawai’i while an article by Elizabeth H. Pisares interrogates the “mis(recognition)” of Filipino American signer Jocelyn to demonstrate the invisibility or indeterminacy of empire in the U.S. Oh! And the title of the book not only refers to the signs that one would find around California in say 1920, but also to the visibility (or rather invisibility) of Filipino studies within Asian American studies.