Diana Chang
Encyclopedia
Diana Chang is a Chinese American
novelist and poet
. She is best known for her novel The Frontiers of Love, one of the earliest novels by an Asian American
woman. She is considered to be the first Chinese American (born in the States) to publish a novel in the States.
to a Chinese father and Eurasian
mother, but spent her youngest years in China, including Beijing
, Nanking, and Shanghai
. She attended high school in New York, and graduated from Barnard College
. After graduation, she worked as a book editor. She has also worked as the editor for the PEN
-sponsored journal American Pen and as a creative writing teacher at Barnard.
) criticized Chang, the next generation of critics, many of them women, realized that Chang's novel anticipates contemporary questions of ethnic identity (e.g. diaspora
); her work has more recently been read in terms of postmodernity
and hybridity
. Although critical work on Chang has increased since the republication of Frontiers, critics have preferred to examine her Asian-themed works; her "white" novels are only recently getting attention.
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
novelist and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. She is best known for her novel The Frontiers of Love, one of the earliest novels by an Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
woman. She is considered to be the first Chinese American (born in the States) to publish a novel in the States.
Early life
Chang was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to a Chinese father and Eurasian
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
mother, but spent her youngest years in China, including Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Nanking, and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. She attended high school in New York, and graduated from Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
. After graduation, she worked as a book editor. She has also worked as the editor for the PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
-sponsored journal American Pen and as a creative writing teacher at Barnard.
Literary work
Chang's best known work is The Frontiers of Love. Although early Asian Americans (e.g. Frank ChinFrank Chin
Frank Chin is an American author and playwright.- Life and career :Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California, but was raised to the age of six by a retired Vaudeville couple in Placerville, California. At six his mother brought him back to the San Francisco Bay Area to live in Oakland Chinatown...
) criticized Chang, the next generation of critics, many of them women, realized that Chang's novel anticipates contemporary questions of ethnic identity (e.g. diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
); her work has more recently been read in terms of postmodernity
Postmodernity
Postmodernity is generally used to describe the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist after modernity...
and hybridity
Hybridity
Hybridity refers in its most basic sense to mixture. The term originates from biology and was subsequently employed in linguistics and in racial theory in the nineteenth century. Its contemporary uses are scattered across numerous academic disciplines and is salient in popular culture...
. Although critical work on Chang has increased since the republication of Frontiers, critics have preferred to examine her Asian-themed works; her "white" novels are only recently getting attention.
Novels
- The Frontiers of Love, (1956, reissued 1974)
- A Woman of Thirty (1959)
- A Passion for Life (1961)
- The Only Game in Town (1963)
- Eye to Eye (1974)
- A Perfect Love (1978)
Poetry
- The Horizon is Definitely Speaking (1982)
- What Matisse is After (1984)
- Earth Water Light (1991).