American Born Chinese

1
American Born Chinese

• By
• Gene Yang

2
American Born Chinese

• 1) A bit of background about the Monkey King.
• 2) Gene Yangs views.
• 3) Discussion about the book.

3
Monkey King

• The story of the Monkey King is a beloved one in
  China, and is based on legends dating back to the
  sixth Century.

4
History behind legends

• In real life, a monk named Xuanzang (602 - 664)
  spent years and years traveling all over Asia
  visiting Buddhist sites and translating Buddhist
  scripture.
• In legends that were told later, he had a monkey
  companion.

5
Journey to the West

• 1,000 years later, in the 1590s, a novelized
  version of the legends of monk Xuanzang was
  published.
• Journey to the West is considered one of the
  great novels of Chinese culture.

6
Monkey King

• In the novel, the monk Xuanzang has several
  companions, all of whom agree to help him to
  atone for past sins.
• The Monkey King is the most popular character in
  the novel.

7
Monkey King

• On his web site, Gene Yang writes, Sun Wukong,
  the Monkey King, is probably the most beloved
  fictional character in the Eastern world. He's
  like the Asian Mickey Mouse, only without the
  squeaky voice and corporate sponsorship.

• Preview for the film The Forbidden Kingdom
• http//www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3677028377/
  

8
Gene Yang on the Monkey King

• Growing up in America . . . I couldn't watch
  Monkey King cartoons after school, I couldn't
  pull my sandwich out of a Monkey King lunch box,
  and I couldn't roundhouse kick my G.I.Joes with a
  Monkey King action figure. I tried to get my
  friends into him, but all they wanted to do was
  play Star Wars. The closest thing to the Monkey
  King in Star Wars was Chewbacca. The big kid
  always got to be Chewbacca. Eventually, as
  American culture seeped into every corner of my
  consciousness, Spider-man, Batman, and their
  entire spandexed genre overtook the Monkey King's
  place in my heart.

9
Monkey King

• So, for Yang, the Monkey King in ABC may
  represent Chinese culture and that Chinese part
  of himself that has been lost growing up in the
  U.S.

10
Graphic Novel

• As is the case with the graphic novel,
  Persepolis, though, ABC tells a very complex
  story about growing up with mixed messages. The
  Monkey King comes to represent a variety of
  conflicting ideas, which are often conveyed
  through interesting juxtapositions of words and
  images . . .
• Yang creates three separate narratives that come
  together at the end. Why?