Ghost (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Cathy Song
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Racism, Interracial relationships, Prejudices or antipathies, Ghosts or apparitions, Asian Americans, Hawaii
“Ghost” appears in The Land of Bliss as a critical reflection on the issue of racial difference in the multiethnic context of Hawaiian society, where, in 2000, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and native Hawaiians made up about 51 percent of the population and white people were a 24 percent minority. To understand this poem, it is useful to consider the fact that, historically, “ghost” (gwai) was a term often used among the Chinese to refer to people of other races (typically white Caucasians) perceived to be oppressive or repulsive. Although an epithet suggesting...
[The entire page is 795 words long]
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