Fantasy as Microaggression?: Racial Caricature, Kawaii-style, and the Anthropomorphic Asian

press release:

LESLIE BOW is Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and Mark and Elisabeth Eccles Professor of English and Asian American Studies, UW-Madison

Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00pm

Conrad A. Elvehjem Building, L140

Free and open to the public.

Professor of English and Asian American Studies Leslie Bow notes that even as we understand the harm embodied by the mammy cookie jar, in the 21st-century, the anthropomorphic object has found new life: geisha cars, Harajuku Lovers perfume bottles, Chanel's "China Doll" handbags, Alessi's "Mandarin" juicer. In this Focus on the Humanities Lecture, she asks whether these forms of racial kitsch-the Asian figure as salt shaker, decor, or toy-evade contextualization as racist kitsch? Presented with the Institute for Research in the Humanities.