Chinese American Masculinities: From Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee by Jachison Chan

Review by: Kathleen Erwin

The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Feb., 2003), pp. 195-197
Published by: Association for Asian Studies
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 BOOK REVIEWS-ASIA: COMPARATIVE AND TRANSNATIONAL 195

The conclusion of this study leads to an important question: Are these challenges
so difficult that they outweigh or even negate the potential? These challenges are real
problems about which observers of China and Vietnam have been very concerned.
Although Buhmann states clearly that "the study does not pretend to give a full
account of these challenges" (p. 38), the potential that she claims to be embodied in
the administrative statutes cannot be fully assessed without balancing it against the
challenges encountered when these statutes are applied.
A complete answer to this difficult question is perhapsbeyond the book's intended
scope, but some insights would have been a useful addition to the study. The lack of
such insights in the book is probably linked to the fact that the study is designed to
focus only on "the formal substanceof the new or amended administrativelaw" (p. 38).
Another limitation of this study is the lack of references to materials published
in the original languages of the two countries addressed. Buhmann, who only has a
basic knowledge of these languages, is aware of the problem. She explains, "these
weaknesses have been taken into account in the conclusions which are worded softly
and in suggestive rather than definite terms" (p. 47). Her efforts in pursuing this
difficult researchare appreciated. The problem is to some degree compensated by her
ability to bring in relevant works written in European languages that many readers
may not read.
The organization of this book is clear. Buhmann's discussion of the relationships
and administrative governance and Confucianism and Legalist traditions, as well as
her comparison of historical and contemporarysafeguardsand remedies against abuse
of power by the executives in China and Vietnam, shed some light on these important
topics that little existing literature has covered.
She also makes a first attempt to design an analytical tool for cross-cultural
analysis of human rights and their forms of articulation and implementation. The
cross-cultural approachis an effort to strengthen the implementation and universality
of international human rights standards by providing an avenue for learning about
human rights ideas of different legal cultures and feeding these ideas, to the extent
that they conform with the overall objectives and ideals of international human rights
law, into a "universal legacy of human rights" (p. 19; for detailed discussion of the
cross-cultural approach, see chap. 3.5). Buhmann's tool is graphically depicted as a
four-level hierarchy of human rights ideals, objectives, standards, and forms of
articulation or implementation in domestic law. The realization of each higher level
depends on the achievement of lower levels (chap. 3.5.4). Her self-critique of the
design of the tool provides useful referencesfor future researchers(chap. 10.4).
The intended readership of the book spans both academic audiences and
"development actors," including "donor agencies, NGOs, and others" (pp. 28-30).
Readers who are interested in administrative law and human rights in China or
Vietnam and debates about "universalityvs. cultural relativity" of human rights may
find this book of interest. The "Guide to Readers"(pp. 28-30) helps individual readers
identify sections that are most relevant to their interests.
VERON HUNG
for InternationalPeace
CarnegieEndowment

ChineseAmericanMasculinities:From Fu Manchuto BruceLee. By JACHISON

CHAN. New York: Routledge, 2001. ix, 183 pp. $60.00 (cloth).

Jachison Chan's ChineseAmericanMasculinities:FromFu Manchuto BruceLee is a

valuable contribution to the growing scholarship on media and popular culture,

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196 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES

masculinity and gender studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, and, of course, Asian
and Asian American studies. Indeed, a key strength of the book is Chan's engagement
with existing scholarship from across a broad disciplinary range to develop his own
arguments about how Chinese American masculinity has been constructed acrosstime
and through various media. He also draws on intriguing primary sources for his
analysis-novels, film, and especially comic books-that are sure to be of interest to
many readers and, in particular, undergraduates. One drawback of this breadth,
especially in a work of fewer than two hundred pages, is that at times Chan's analysis
is either overly condensed or insufficiently supported by the evidence that he provides.
The book is arrangedin two parts. The first examines the "Americaninheritance"
of fictional popular culture images of Chinese American men, from Sax Rohmer's
original Dr. Fu Manchu (novels and short stories published from 1913 to 1959),
through Charlie Chan (1920s to 1932) and Bruce Lee (late 1960s to 1970s), to comic
book hero Shang-chi (1970s). Chan's aim is to analyze critically "archetypal"images
of Chinese American men that have created or reinforced stereotypes that, in turn,
have shaped the discourse on Chinese American men's issues. Borrowing from R. W.
Connell's analysis of hegemonic and subordinated masculinities, Chan suggests that
Chinese American men have been disempowered and marginalized by popular images
of the "yellow peril," the asexual "model minority," and the "kung-fu master."
In response, Chinese American men have embraced hegemonic masculine ideals
of gender dominance and heterosexuality, rejecting alternative, and more flexible,
"ambi-sexual"and profeminist possibilities. This response is documented in part 2 of
the book by the author's analysis of contemporaryfictional works by Chinese American
authors Frank Chin, Gus Lee, and Shawn Wong (chap. 6). Although Chan suggests
that these three authors represent Chinese American masculinity in more complexity
and diversity than the previous archetypes, he finds only David Wong Louie's short
story collection and David H. Hwang's M. Butterfly(chap. 7) gesture toward a
"masculinity of inclusion." In his epilogue, the author confronts the challenges of
creating more ambi-sexual and profeminist Chinese American male identities by
critically evaluating students' responseto his own undergraduatecourse on the subject.
Because of its organization-with analysis of specific works encapsulated in distinct
chapters and notes at the end of each-this book may be read as an integrated whole
or assigned in course syllabi by selected chapters.
A central theme in part 1 is that the American public, largely unfamiliar with
Chinese Americans or Chinese culture, has accepted Orientalist representationsof Fu
Manchu and Charlie Chan as "authentic" and that Chinese American men must
overcome these negative and emasculating stereotypes in order to attain legitimate
manhood within American society. Although Bruce Lee's image was created largely
by Lee himself and presents an image of sexual virility and even the possibility of
homoerotic attraction, the stereotype of the kung-fu master is neverthelessa restrictive
one that is reinforced in the comic book hero Shang-chi.
By locating his discussion of Bruce Lee in part 1, the author highlights the key
role Lee played in shifting discourse about Chinese American men in the 1970s. But,
he also introduces some confusion about his central theme-that is, the degree to
which uninformed white authors construct Orientalist images that go unchallenged
by the broader American public versus the ways in which Chinese American men
construct alternative images themselves-the key theme developed in part 2.
Although his editorial choice is justifiable in terms of maintaining historical
progression, it illustrates one place where Chan's argument could be sharpened.
Moreover, by relegating Lee to primarily historical significance, Chan shortchanges

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 BOOK REVIEWS-ASIA: COMPARATIVE AND TRANSNATIONAL 197

his already overly condensed analysis of Chinese American male fiction writers in
chapter 6 particularly.
On the other hand, one of Chan's finest and most original chapters is that on
Shang-chi. By devoting an entire chapter to the comic series, Chan is able to document
fully his arguments and provide nuance to his interpretations. He also references
fascinating commentary from the series' creator in the notes-much of which could
have readily been integrated in the main text to enrich his analysis further. By
including comic books in his scope of analysis, Chan legitimizes an often overlooked
form of popular media that is influential in shaping images of masculinity.
Also original, and extremely useful for those interested in not just textual analysis
but also in pedagogy and social change, is Chan's thoughtful reflection on his own
course on Chinese American masculinities. In describing the tensions that his course
unleashed, Chan highlights the need for critical analysis on gender and ethnicity to
extend beyond the academy and enter everyday dialogue and interpersonal relations.
ChineseAmericanMasculinitiesis an important text that will provide an essential bridge
to that process.
KATHLEEN ERWIN
Universityof California,San Francisco

Consumptionin Asia: Lifestyles and Identities. Edited by CHUA BENG-HUAT.

London and New York: Routledge, 2000. xiv, 249 pp. $90.00 (cloth); $31.95
(paper).

This volume, part of a series on the "new rich in Asia," brings together a wide-
ranging set of articles on the political economy and symbolic valence of consumption
in East Asia. In his insightful introduction, Chua Beng-Huat lays out the purposes
of the volume: to offer empirical analyses of changing objects and levels of
consumption in the region, to examine the changing cultural/ideological discourses
that the expansion of consumption in the region has engendered, and, finally, to
engage conceptually the expanding social science literature on consumption.
Chapters 2 through 6 track patterns of, levels of, and attitudes toward
consumption among the middle classes of Malaysia (Rokiah Talib), South Korea
(Seung-Kuk Kim), urban China (Chengze Simon Fan), Hong Kong (Annie Hau-Nung
Chan), and Indonesia (Solvay Gerke), using quantitative survey data. These chapters
attest to the emergence of a general pattern of consumption in the region, along with
variations. The chapterson Malaysia,South Korea, and Hong Kong delineate housing,
cars, and education as key commodities for the middle classes. The relatively poorer
economies of China and Indonesia demonstrate a shift from pre-economic reform era
goods, such as sewing machines, watches, and bicycles, to late 1980's valorization of
televisions, refrigerators,fans, washing machines, and cameras.The assumption is that
these are hierarchical rungs on a consumption ladder based on how these economies
develop and expand.
The strength of the volume rests in its exploration of consumption as an object
in ideological/cultural discourses in Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan (chaps. 7-9). In his
introduction, Chua points to what he calls the "shallowness"of consumption in the
region, except for Japan; these are newly industrializing economies with recent
memories of underdevelopment such that states and populations produce ambivalent
and highly moralistic responses to the rapid expansion of consumption. The
semidemocratic and authoritarianstates of the region encourage consumption in order

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